Translated material
Political pre-trial detention center
The elections of Mikhail Khodorkovsky to the State Duma have begun
The election campaign for the State Duma officially kicked off in Moscow on Monday. Former head of the YUKOS company Mikhail Khodorkovsky is running for one of the two vacant seats - in the 201st University District. The initiative group for his nomination spoke at a press conference yesterday about how they would help the prisoner participate in elections from behind bars.The initiator of the idea of nominating Mr. Khodorkovsky in Moscow, Secretary of the Federal Political Council of the Union of Right Forces, Ivan Starikov, said that the disgraced oligarch wants to take advantage of his passive suffrage. Since by-elections to the Duma will be held under the old legislation of 2002, an initiative group is needed to nominate a candidate. To support Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russian politicians and public figures of different views united in such a group - on Monday, members of the Union of Right Forces Ivan Starikov and Boris Nadezhdin, representatives of the Yabloko party Andrei Piontkovsky and Alexey Melnikov, head of the party, took part in the press conference. Our choice" Irina Khakamada, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseeva and journalist, member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Sergei Dorenko. Another member of the initiative group, leader of the National Bolshevik Party Eduard Limonov, could not come to the press conference - he supported other prisoners, members of his party, in court.
According to Ivan Starikov, Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s participation in the Duma elections is necessary for everyone. First of all, the State Duma itself, since the level of public trust in it is rapidly falling. “There are very few people in the State Duma who are able to voice their civic position. And Khodorkovsky will convey to people the real, unfiltered, strong truth,” Mr. Starikov assured. A member of the SPS Political Council also said that the President personally needs Deputy Khodorkovsky: “Now Vladimir Putin in his nightmares remembers the beginning of the YUKOS case and the arrest of the head of the company. Putting him in custody will not solve the problem. If the president wants to remain a civilized ruler in the eyes of people after his departure in 2008, his solution is to elect Mikhail Khodorkovsky to the Duma.”
Irina Khakamada agreed that the sentence imposed on the ex-head of YUKOS was a fundamental mistake by the authorities: “If Khodorkovsky had been given two or three years, people would have treated the YUKOS case as a criminal one. And now Khodorkovsky has become a political, iconic and consolidating figure. The government itself did this!”
Lyudmila Alekseeva explained her presence in the ranks of the initiative group by the emergence in Russia of a phenomenon well known to her - the appearance of political prisoners. “I joined the group not only as a citizen of Russia, but also as the head of the MHG - human rights activists must take an active part in the fate of Khodorkovsky, because he became a political prisoner. This hasn’t happened for a long time, and the authorities should be ashamed,” said Ms. Alekseeva.
Sergei Dorenko, on the contrary, said that he represents himself, and not the Communist Party. And he supported the idea of his colleagues that the government helped the disgraced oligarch become a political figure. “Now Khodorkovsky is the number two politician in Russia. Number one is President Putin, and that’s thanks to the chair on which he sits,” the journalist clarified. - Khodorkovsky won the day he agreed to participate in the elections. And these elections need to be held regardless of the will of the Central Election Commission.”
In case the will of the Central Election Commission is not on the side of the ex-head of YUKOS, the initiative group still intends to organize his election campaign. Even if the candidate is not registered. “If the authorities do not register Khodorkovsky, then we will hold popular elections,” said Ivan Starikov. According to him, supporters of Mr. Khodorkovsky will campaign for voters who support the former head of Yukos to write his name on the ballot. “And we will count such ballots, and then the significance of Khodorkovsky’s support will become clear,” Mr. Starikov assured. Voting for Khodorkovsky will also be organized on the Internet, and “alternative” ballot boxes may appear at polling stations. Members of the initiative group promised to implement some more election technologies, in particular those “seen in Ukraine,” but did not reveal all the secrets.