From the exchange of letters between the Frankfurter Rundschau and Mikhail Khodorkovsky:
There are many versions as to why the Kremlin had you arrested in 2003 and destroyed Yukos. They say Yukos dealt too independently, controlled more than 100 members of parliament and followed its own energy policies. In a meeting with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in February 2003 you denounced corruption in the environment around him. When he rejected your suggestion for a Yukos pipeline to China you answered: “Vladimir Vladimirovich, you fail to understand the importance the relationship with China.” Were you brought down because you didn’t show the Czars the respect they demand?
If we leave economic interests aside, what remains is that I was socially engaged, and personally supported opposition parties financially. In the meeting with the president I gave a lecture on corruption in the highest levels of power. This lecture was the result of discussions with many people, including Kremlin authorities. Several of them had to leave the Kremlin afterwards. Those are the facts. The rest is myth. The new charges brought against me are also complete lunacy.
Do you regret not having fled the country in 2003, despite warnings of arrest?
I am sorry for other Yukos people who have also been condemned to prison, and for my family. But for me it was above all a question of my honor, of faith or betrayal, and in the end patriotism. In this situation I couldn’t just walk away.
What would you do if you were released? Be a businessman again, politician, or something else?
I have built up a great debt to my family, even if unwillingly. I would above all try and pay that back.
If Mikhail Khodorkovsky is found guilty in a new trial, he could be condemned to another 22 years in the prison camp. His lawyers have calculated this. He would then be 67 upon his release.
-posted by robert amsterdam editted by fer-
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