The Human Rights Commissioner of the Federal Government Gunter Nooke (Christian Democratic Party) about the new Khodorkovsky-Lebedev case.

Prior to the human rights consultations between Russia and the EU, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Federal Government Gunter Nooke (Christian Democratic Party) asked for clear words in respect to Moscow. “We have to make clear that we are not willing to simply tolerate everything”, Nooke said to Der Tagesspiegel. According to Nooke, the human rights situation in Russia has deteriorated in the past five years, particularly with regard to freedom of the press and freedom of assembly.

The German EU Presidency will further address the cases of the former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his partner Platon Lebedev according to Nooke. The conditions of their imprisonment and the continued harassment of their lawyers are reason for deep concern in Berlin. “It cannot be that Khodorkovsky has to face new charges in order to avoid his early release for good conduct from prison”, Nooke said.

(Der Tagesspiegel, 02.05.2007)