Defence attorney Vadim Klyuvgant does not agree with FPS head Kalinin’s recently stated views about parole

The former head of Yukos Mikhail Khodorkovsky can apply again for parole in six months’ time, says Yury Kalinin, head of the Federal Penitentiary Service.

“Let us not anticipate events. The right to release on parole arises six months after the latest court ruling on the subject,” Kalinin told a press conference at the Interfax central office. He added that Khodorkovsky faced “a lawsuit claiming more than 17 billion roubles which he has not settled.” Kalinin remarked: “Probably we should wait six months and then we can decide what’s what.”

For his part, Khodorkovsky’s defence attorney Vadim Klyuvgant told Interfax that in considering a petition for parole the court must first of all take into account the behaviour of the prisoner when serving his sentence in the penal colony.

“The position adopted by the RF Constitutional Court has been repeatedly stated,” said Klyuvgant, “and testifies that the existence of a lawsuit that has not been settled is a circumstance that, like the admission or non-admission of guilt, is not decisive when considering an application for parole.

“The only criterion which should govern the court’s decision is the conduct of the prisoner while serving his sentence in the penal colony,” emphasised the lawyer. “That is the main issue and all the rest are details.”

Klyuvgant explained that when the criminal case against Mikhail Khodorkovsky was examined in the Meshchansky district court in Moscow the lawsuit mentioned was not considered. Later, however, the lawsuit was submitted as a civil case and upheld.

At the same time, Klyuvgant says, the executive document for this lawsuit was not included in the personal file of Khodorkovsky that was submitted when his parole application was being examined.

(Interfax, 16 September 2008)