USA: Pavel Khodorkovsky, the son of imprisoned oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, casts his vote in New York for the Russian elections

Record ID: 327712

  • Title: USA: Pavel Khodorkovsky, the son of imprisoned oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, casts his vote in New York for the Russian elections
  • Date: 5th March 2012
  • Summary: MOTHER AND FATHER LIFTING THEIR CHILDREN UP TO PUT BALLOTS IN BOX
  • Embargoed: 20th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAGKHLEU3C8AP0RIFYB3RE9V7J
  • Story Text: Pavel Khodorkovsky, the son of imprisoned oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, cast his vote in the Russian elections at the country's consulate in New York on Sunday (March 4), hoping to steer the political tide away from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
    Putin's 2000-2008 presidency was defined for many in Russia and abroad by the jailing of Khodorkovsky, which critics say was politically motivated punishment for perceived challenges to Putin's authority and funding of opposition parties.
    Sunday's parliamentary vote is the first test of Putin's ruling United Russia party since he revealed plans to return to the presidency for a six-year term in a March 2012 election after four years as prime minister.
    "To state the obvious, Putin is going to win this election. This is an unfortunate reality and I say unfortunate because I don't think right now that he's the best choice for Russia and I don't think that his candidacy necessarily represents what the majority of the Russian population wants, but I think that a lot of the results that we will be seeing today are due to the lack of choice," said Pavel Khodorkovsky, who cast his vote for billionaire tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov -- the youngest of the five men on the ballot by almost a generation and is the only first-time candidate in a field of familiar faces.
    "And that lack of choice is a direct result of him essentially destroying the democratic landscape and not allowing any kind of candidates that could have a possibility of challenging him and then garnering a large percentage of the vote, to actually even participate in the election," Khodorkovsky said.
    Khodorkovsky said that while the ballots cast for candidates other than Putin won't produce his favored outcome, he hopes that it will send a more politically charged message.
    "No matter the amount of rigging, no matter the amount of fraud that's going on, if people will continue coming to the voting stations, casting their ballots and then coming on the streets in a peaceful manner and saying, listen, 'I know that I voted this way. I know that my friends, family, colleagues at work voted for other people. I do not believe this result.' That's when the situation starts to change and that's what we've been seeing after the parliamentary elections," Khodorkovsky said.
    Khodorkovsky's father was once Russia's richest man and head of one of the country's biggest oil producers, Yukos. He is serving a 13-year prison sentence after convictions on charges of large-scale financial crimes in two trials, in 2005 and 2010. He is due for release in 2016.
    Putin has rejected criticism over the Yukos case, saying of Khodorkovsky that "a thief should sit in jail". He made the comments in late 2010, just before Khodorkovsky was convicted for a second time and his jail term extended to 2017.
    "I think that it remains, fairly certain unfortunately, that while my, that my father will remain in jail while Putin is in power," Khodorkovsky said.
    "I do hold a little bit of hope in connection with this protest movement in Russia because it has a very good possibility of asking for concrete concessions from the government and I do see a possibility within the next one to two years of liberalization happening with Putin's government being forced to actually carry out some of the long-promised reforms to contain the situation and keep it under control. That being said, my father's release would be indicative of long-awaited rule of law reform," he said.
    Khodorkovsky said he has tried to show solidarity with his country by leading protests in New York, even though he believes that they may not have as great an impact as demonstrations in Russia.
    Since his father's prison transfer, Khodorkovsky has been able to speak to him every other weekend for five minutes, labeling his spirit, "unwavering".
    "He's always in very good spirits," he said.
    "I'm trying to understand what he's going through because that's something that he never talks about and refuses to speak with me about it over the phone. His response is always the same. 'It's all fine. Don't worry about it. This is not something that I'm paying attention to.' So he's very focused on getting the most information he can given his limited access to media."
    Khodorkovsky said reports his father is communicating with the outside world via the internet are false.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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