Knows about the raid

“The President is familiar with Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s open letter to the Chairman of the Supreme Court,” said Dmitry Medvedev’s press secretary Natalya Timakova, according to RIA Novosti. She didn't add anything more to it. Let us remind you that the purpose of the hunger strike, which the former businessman, who is in prison and under a second trial, announced on May 17, was precisely the reaction of the president. A reaction to the fact that the courts are acting contrary to his own amendments, which state that persons suspected or accused of economic crimes should be detained only in exceptional cases. Khodorkovsky wrote about this in an address to the Chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev. On May 17, his period of detention was once again extended until August 17, but he emphasized that he was not demanding anything in relation to himself, but wanted to draw the president’s attention to other cases when persons suspected or accused of economic crimes are in pre-trial detention center contrary to the law. Medvedev responded, albeit somewhat vacuously. However, he can probably meaningfully shake his finger at the heads of the Federal Penitentiary Service once again. And it’s hard to say what will follow. The government doesn't listen to him either.

However, Khodorkovsky issued a statement saying: “I am really surprised by the promptness of support from civil society and the information openness of the President of the Russian Federation and the Chairman of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In a situation where it is officially stated that D.A. Medvedev is informed about the essence of the problem; I do not consider it necessary to insist on the form of its discussion within the power structures. I am convinced that now the position of the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which he promised to inform the public about, as well as court decisions on specific cases, will reflect the position of the President of the Russian Federation as the author of the bill - the guarantor of the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens. The purpose of the appeal has been achieved. I'm stopping my hunger strike. I sincerely thank everyone who supported me. I did not put forward a change in my personal situation as a demand. I consider it necessary to seek further changes in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation and law enforcement practice in order to reduce the opportunities for arbitrariness and corruption, and through the combined efforts of everyone who is truly interested in the modernization of Russia.”