RUSSIA: KHODORKOVSKY SUPPORTERS RALLY OUTSIDE PRISON WHERE RUSSIAN TYCOON IS ON HUNGER STRIKE.

Record ID: 215497

  • Title: RUSSIA: KHODORKOVSKY SUPPORTERS RALLY OUTSIDE PRISON WHERE RUSSIAN TYCOON IS ON HUNGER STRIKE.
  • Date: 25th August 2005
  • Summary: (BN13) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AUGUST 24, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. MV/CU: CROWD OF SUPPORTERS OF KHODORKOVSKY WITH BANNERS AND PHOTOS OUTSIDE PRISON, POLICE (5 SHOTS) 0.26 2. GV: FORMER WORLD CHESS CHAMPION GARY KASPAROV (NOT SEEN) SURROUNDED BY REPORTERS 0.31 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER WORLD CHESS CHAMPION GARY KASPAROV SAYING: "Any crowd, even a s
  • Embargoed: 9th September 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVA8F0IS04BJBYIC8W00GY4IHWTZ
  • Story Text: Khodorkovsky supporters rally outside prison where the Russian tycoon is on hunger strike.



    Supporters of jailed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky rallied
    outside the prison where he is serving a nine-year prison term on Wednesday
    (August 24, 2005), a day after one of his lawyers announced he had gone on hunger
    strike.

    Khodorkovsky is refusing water and food for several days in protest at
    prison authorities putting his business partner Platon Lebedev in a punishment
    block, the billionaire said in a statement read out by lawyer Anton Drel on
    Russia's NTV channel on Tuesday (August 23).

    Another lawyer for Khodorkovsky, Genrikh Padva, said the hunger strike
    would probably continue until Lebedev was released from the punishment cell on
    Thursday (August 25), RIA news agency reported.

    Some 50 people gathered outside the prison where Khodorkovsky and
    Lebedev are held to offer support to the two men.

    Former World Chess champion Gary Kasparov was among the protesters.


    Kasparov who retired from competitive chess to focus on political
    activity is a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    He told reporters that civil rights in Russia were being destroyed and
    those opposed to "Putin's regime" had to take every opportunity to
    protest.

    "Any crowd, even a small one gathered outside the prison is the
    chance to demonstrate that civil society in Russia is not yet dead," he
    said. "Putin's state does not show any respect for our rights. And we all
    have to use any opportunity to protest and to show our determination and our
    resolution to fight for the rights guaranteed by the constitution."
    Khodorkovsky, 42-year-old founder of the YUKOS oil company, was
    sentenced in May to nine years in jail for fraud and tax evasion. Lebedev was
    given the same jail term.

    "I have serious concerns about Khodorkovsky's health; he will keep
    up the hunger strike, at least he indicated that," lawyer Drel told
    reporters outside the prison.

    While Khodorkovsky stayed fit throughout his long trial, Lebedev's
    health has deteriorated and his lawyers say he is not getting adequate medical
    treatment in prison.

    Local media have reported that Lebedev was punished for insulting
    warders at the Sailor's Rest prison.

    Khodorkovsky's supporters say he was the victim of a Kremlin-inspired
    campaign to punish him for his political ambitions and strip him of his
    assets.

    The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the case.

    Though he is unpopular with ordinary Russians for the huge fortune he
    amassed in the economic chaos of the early 1990s, since his arrest
    Khodorkovsky has become an icon for liberal opponents of President Vladimir
    Putin. The tycoon said this week through lawyers he would consider running for
    a vacant seat in the lower house of parliament in December if he could muster
    enough backing.


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