‘To the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Yury Yakovlevich Chaika

Declaration

I am forced to turn directly to you with regards to the situation with Aleksanyan.

V.G. Aleksanyan is no longer under investigation; he is now under arrest. S.K. Karimov, who is directly linked to the matter, is furthermore under your immediate authority. It is my firm belief that S.K. Karimov has, with the direct cooperation of I.I. Sechin, taken several questionable actions over the past couple of years in order to obtain evidence for crimes not committed.

Additionally, threats have been made and actions taken against intractable witnesses. A number of these threats were also made real, cases were made up and people were put on trial or sent to prison.

As I have repeatedly stated, the mere possibility of such pressure on people leads as a consequence to the covering up of documentary evidence.

However, as there so far have been no direct threats to the lives of potential witnesses, I assumed it possible to engage exclusively in a procedural dispute, whilst awaiting the appearance of the long promised independent court in Russia.

The situation with my lawyer, V.G. Aleksanyan, is unique.

I gathered from his appearance that not only was he being interrogated about me, but that they were also proposing to give him medical treatment in exchange for a testimony that "suited them and Karimov in particular".. But he may no longer be alive by the time the court reaches a decision.

I have no contact with V.G. Aleksanyan. I can only judge his condition by his appearance at the Supreme Court

I know that the Federal Enforcement Service in Moscow are capable of lying in court. I know this from my own hunger strike and therefore their declaration is not reassuring.

I am therefore faced with making an impossible moral decision:

- either to confess to crimes I have not committed and in doing so saving a person’s life. But at the same time I would ruin the lives of innocent people who have been given the attribute of being my ‘accomplices’.
- or to defend my rights, wait for the installation of an independent court but at the same time risk being the death of my lawyer, Aleksanyan.

I have thought about this long and hard and I find it an impossible choice to make.

Therefore I am forced to act beyond normal procedures and announce to you the start of my hunger strike.

I sincerely hope that the leading authorities together with yourself, will come to a decision that guarantees V.G. Aleksanyan his life and medical assistance.’

In a protocol from 29.01.2008 an entry reads: I have handed over a declaration for the attention of Yury Yakovlevich Chaika regarding my hunger strike starting from the 29th of January, 2008. The reasons for it are stated in the declaration. Signed M. Khodorkovsky.’