Today, my friend Platon Lebedev and I were charged with a new, absurd and ungrounded indictment.

The next things that will happen are absolutely obvious to us: false and fraudulent evidence, statements by frightened or misled pseudo-witnesses, and most likely a guilty verdict. It is a shameful farce that has nothing to do with the rule of law.

The reason why all this is being done is also quite obvious. The people who invented the “Khodorkovsky case” in order to steal Yukos, the most prosperous company in Russia, are very much afraid to see me set free and want to insure themselves against the possibility of my conditional release.

These miserable people seem to seriously believe that the human and historical evaluation of their actions depends on yet another false verdict by the Bassmany-Meshansky court. They do not understand that they are further complicating their own position and cornering themselves by each new step they make. This is true not only for themselves, but also for their boss, Vladimir Putin. And I am not at all sure whether Putin is going to thank them for that.

They still have a potential exit strategy though, along with the opportunity to save their position and secure long-term guarantees. Their only chance is the timely and voluntary transfer of power in Russia by the means of honest, fair and transparent elections, in which the new president of our country will be elected. This new person should have nothing in common with the giant corruption machine that has paralyzed Russia, and this person should display a respect toward judicial independence.

My task in the upcoming process is to demonstrate by my own example that present-day Russia is a country possessing a custom-designed rule of law, where the law enforcement system and the international cooperation of law enforcement agencies are being used not only for the fight against criminality, but also to further corrupt officials’ political and personal interests.

A priori false accusations ordered by political authorities are easily stamped by investigators and signed off by the court. And the current ruling elite and power bears no shame. The court, a subservient instrument of the vertical of power, will of course deliver a guilty verdict.

I am not scared by the new verdict. Does the number of years I spend in jail under false accusations make any difference at all? No decent person anywhere would believe my pursuers (supporters of “Khodorkovsky’s second term”) anyway. Platon’s and my personal destiny is defined solely by our motherland’s destiny and its face after the change of power in 2008.

I believe that truth and fairness will prevail.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Chita Pretrial Detention Center
February 7, 2007