Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Mikhail Khodorkovsky is an interesting man. He was arrested October 25 2003 at gunpoint on charges of tax evasion. He is now in Siberia as a prisoner in "prison camp number 13" near Krasnokamensk. Krasnokamensk is a village near the border of Mongolia and China. I have been near this workingcamp myself and talked to the locals there. The locals are mostly people who are ancestors to Ghengis Khan. They told me that the inmates at these workingcamps often starve to death, have to eat dogs, etc. Mikhail was sent to this "maximum security prison camp" a few days ago. His mother is moving to Krasnokamjensk so she can bring food and other stuff to him.

Russia´s wealthiest man (16th wealthiest man in the world), 42 years of age

Former President of Yukos

Gave money to and supported Putin´s opponents

Has declared that he wishes to run for President in 2008 against Putin

KhodorkovskyTrial.com - Press Center for Mikhail Khodorkovsky



October 27, 2005: Mikhail Khodorkovsky declares from his prison in Siberia, over six thousand kilometers from Moscow, that "the fight is just beginning." He says "heroes, not conformists" are needed for Russia to address its great challenges.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

If he survives the prison camp, he could become the future President of Russia, or maybe a "Great King of the Mongols" (Nostradamus anyone?). He is a dangerous opponent to Putin, that´s for sure. But they will probably not let him out of jail until after 2009. His case is being reported to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg.

Related Links:
WikiPedia: Mikhail Khodorkovsky

For those less aware, "Mikhail was sent to this "maximum security prison camp" equates to somewhere in Siberia.
I seriously doubt that Khodorkovsky, a Russian Jew, will be allowed to return from there.
The Russian government/Putin has taken over all of his assets, money, and property. Man was one of the richest men in the world.

Per chance, he will return to what, exactly?




seekerof

Very sad state of affairs for him, and for russia actually the man to get away , was roman abromvich, now the darling of london, and Chairman of Chelsea, FC


Majic's Political Easter Egg: Be the first to post the birth date of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in this thread and send Majic a U2U with a link to your post, and you will be awarded 500 PTS points.

[edit on 7/15/2006 by Majic]

Originally posted by Seekerof

Per chance, he will return to what, exactly?

They will turn him into a martyr. Russians love martyrs. He will gain popularity and might win a future election (or coup?). He was very very powerful before he was arrested. And even if he now is stripped of money/assets he still is powerful and has many supporters.

WikiPedia: Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Khodorkovsky supporters are attempting to turn his conviction and imprisonment into status as a martyr. Irina Khakamada, a former leader of the Union of Right Forces party, claimed that Khodorkovsky's imprisonment was making the once hated oil billionaire into a political hero. She asserted:

"The longer he sits in jail, the more of a political figure he will become. Russians love martyrs. They will forget that he is an oligarch. "

Btw, I made a little mistake when I used the word "workingcamp". The correct english word would be "labor camp" (*slaps forehead*). And yes, the camp is in Russia, near the border to both Mongolia and China. I failed to find a map picture for you all...

Just doing a little digging around, I ran across this:
Russia's Khodorkovsky ends up in Siberia camp

And this Russian article, for which you will need Babelfish to translate:

"Since October 16th, I have been living in the land of Decembrists [December 1825 Russian insurgents against Imperial power], political prisoners and uranium pits. I'm 600 Km [400 miles] away from Chita, 6500 KM [4000 miles] away from Moscow. The Kremlin has tried to completely isolate me from the country and the people; moreover--it tried to exterminate me physically. Therefore, those in power proved themselves once more unable to have an honest and open discussion with me (and to have a straight talk with the real opposition in general). They think that Khodorkovsky will soon be forgotten. They try to persuade you, friends, that the struggle is over. That we must acquiesce to the power of the self-serving bureaucracy. That's not truth. The struggle has only begun", Khodorkovsky statement says.

The former head of YUKOS thinks that the country faces the daunting tasks. "We must formulate the program of Russian development in the 21st century. We must build again the army and the judicial system.We must build from the scratch bureaucracy that will be interested in the well-being of the country and the society--not in it's own boundless personal enrichment. We must move away from the destructive policies of turning Russia into an energy colony and make a U-Turn toward the "economics of knowledge". We must keep inside Russia Far East and Siberia that within a few years may fall under the control of China. We must restore prestige of Russia destroyed as the result of unprofessionalism and sometimes as the result of the outright betrayal. To solve these tasks, we need a completely different elite. We need heroes--not gray suites. We need brave, honest and consistent leaders. Those people are you my compatriots and supporters. Everyone of you who is not afraid today to support political prisoners and say "No" to the repressive machine of the criminal bureaucracy, have the right to be called 'The Man' ", Khodorkovsky stated. According to Khodorkovsky, "The time of gray suites is over--the time of Heroes is coming".

Khodorkovsky Issued the First Statement from the Penal Colony
The source of the translation




seekerof

Khodorkovsky filed an appeal against the transfer from Moscow to Sibiria and the deadline for the appeal was January 15th. That appeal has now apparently disappeared, how strange...

And right now the current temperature at Krasnokamensk Colony (Siberia) is: -34°F / -37°C (brrrr - that´s cold) Source: Press Center for Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

RIA Novosti: Khodorkovsky prison transfer appeal goes missing

16/ 01/ 2006


An appeal filed on behalf of Mikhail Khodorkovsky has apparently disappeared, a lawyer for the jailed former head of Yukos said Monday. Yury Shmidt said the appeal - against Khodorkovsky's transfer from Moscow to a prison in the Siberian region of Chita - was sent to a Moscow court on January 10. But when Shmidt arrived at the court Monday to find out the date for the hearing, the appeal was not listed, he said. The postal service told him that the appeal had been delivered to a court employee, Shmidt said, calling the envelope's disappearance a "circus trick."

The deadline to submit the appeal was January 15

Shmidt claims that the Federal Penitentiary Service's decision to send his client to a prison in Siberia's Chita Region was illegal. Under Russian law the authorities should have imprisoned Khodorkovsky in a region where he either lived or was convicted, the lawyer says.

Khodorkovsky has apparently been a "bad boy" in prison and allegedly broke some prison rules. He has now been placed in solitary confinement.

RIA Novosti: Khodorkovsky in solitary confinement for breaking prison rules

25/ 01/ 2006


The jailed founder of oil major Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has been placed in solitary confinement for breaking prison rules, a penitentiary service official said Wednesday. "The head of the [prison] colony in Krasnokamensk [the Siberian town where Khodorkovsky is being held] made the decision, and he had the right to do so," Yury Kalinin said. "Khodorkovsky has already been reprimanded.

Commenting on the punishment, Khodorkovsky's lawyer Yury Shmidt said the authorities purposely took this action to prevent the possibility of a milder sentence and even parole.

Majic's Political Easter Egg: Be the first to post the birth date of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in this thread and send Majic a U2U with a link to your post, and you will be awarded 500 PTS points.

[edit on 7/15/2006 by Majic]

Date of Birth: 26 June 1963

Khodorkovsky is an interesting character, not necessarily worth denouncing as the expatriate Berezovsky is (and Abramovich). In reality they are all oligarchs, cunning opportunists who caught the right moment to embrace the new, almost lawless capitalism in Russia in the early 90's.

They acquired the newly privatized assets in major industries (such as energy resources), for next to nothing through financial loans. the government was too busy sorting out their new politics and separations of ex Soviet states to be too concerned with industries. Plus alot of politicians wanted a piece of the pie. But one must not forget that only years ago these industries and resourses were owned by the nation- by Russian people. Profits from them flowed into the national budget, and trickled down to social and economic programs (much to the military though). Now these assets were suddenly owned by the few oligarchs (who got rich all of the sudden, starting with almost nothing), and the money paid for them was nowhere to be seen for the regular people. You could say that the oligarchs together with their pal politicians, robbed what was left of Russia and what theoretically belonged to the people. So as far as I see it nearly all of them are greedy capitalists first, and politicians after. One should not feel too sorry for them losing all their wealth- it was easy to get and easy to lose.


Now Berezovsky and Khadorkovsky, simply chose the wrong time to "rebel" again those that sponsored them, and let their crimes go unpunished. Realistically and fairly, all of these oligarchs could have been imprisoned for the same reason as Khodorkovsky. The government let all these violations slide. But Putin was cunning enough, to not forget these violations and use them as a sort of political blackmail- and it worked. Abramovich simply played along, and got to retire a rich and free man. A successful oligarch in Russia, is one that doesn't challenge politicians. When the two mix however, trouble happens.

Putin had his new national agenda in his first term (which he started to realize in his second). To covertly renationalize all the major national resources under one rook (Gazprom). Abramovich stayed out of Putin's politics, got paid for his nest egg, and went to live out his dreams carefree. Khodorkovski and Berezovsky however (with some support from Western capitalists and US) didn't like what Putin was doing. So Khodorkovski got punished, and his assets taken away. Russian democracy is such that they simply should not have stood in Putin's way to begin with.

Putin is very popular, and his party successor will most likely win the elections. As long as Putin's and his party's program remains in power and has much support, Khodorkovsky will get nowhere even if he is released. He will most likely run to the West. They will be forgoten by most, and all will be history. However if Putin is unsuccessful in putting his program in place for long, term, Khodorkovsky and Berezovsky might once again jump into politics. Their future depends on who will come to power next- and that could be anybody's guess. If he gets out soon, he is not going to be much of an opponent to Putin. He is going to be shut out of politics. In the long term possibly, but I doubt he could become a presidential candidate. He might be a top member of some yet-unexistent opposition party, but as an ex-con - not a candidate.

[edit on 17-7-2006 by maloy]

Majic's Political Easter Eggs

Originally posted by JohnDoe43
Date of Birth: 26 June 1963

Da! 500 PTS Rubles for you, Comrade!

Russia’s Most Famous Prisoner

Khodorkovsky is still in jail. He could face an additional 22 years behind bars.


Who Fears a Free Mikhail Khodorkovsky?

November 18, 2009


Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once his country’s richest man, has resided in “gulag lite,” as he calls the Russian penal system under Vladimir Putin, for six years.

[---]

Convicted of tax evasion and fraud in 2005, Khodorkovsky now faces a fresh set of charges that add up to the supposed theft of $30 billion.

[---]

The new indictment runs 3,487 pages but boils down to a single accusation: that the former C.E.O. of the Yukos oil firm and his deputy, Platon Lebedev, were part of an “organized criminal group” that stole 350 million tons of oil from their company between 1998 to 2003. The tonnage exceeds Yukos’s production during the period in question. If convicted, Khodorkovsky, whose first sentence ends in 2011, could face an additional 22 years in jail.

There's a lot to read in that article. Click the link to read it all.

Latest:

Khodorkovsky found guilty by Russian court.


CNN: State media: Russian court finds Khodorkovsky guilty

December 27, 2010


A judge in Moscow has found former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner guilty of corruption charges, state-run RIA-Novosti and Interfax news agencies said Monday.

[---]

In his final address to the court, Khodorkovsky made a last impassioned appeal.

"For me, as for anybody, it is hard to live in jail, and I do not want to die there. But if I have to, I will not hesitate. The things I believe in are worth dying for," he said.

Putin is in campaign mode...


Putin says smash faces of Russian fraudsters

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir, already in campaign mode for a third term as president, said fraudsters who siphon off state money should have their faces smashed.

Khodorkovsky to be released soon?


When will they be released?

January 02, 2013


In an appeal case against the Moscow court which in 2010 sentenced Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to 13 years of jail, both prosecutors and defence now agree that the 2010 verdict is based on false conditions.

While the prosecutors now proposes to limit the sentence from 13 to 11 years and three months, the defence lawyers argue that both men already have served their sentence and should be released immediately.

If the position of the prosecutor prevails, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev will be free men in 2014, Interfax reports.

TsUR

Three Russian journalists financed by Khodorkovsky have been killed in Central Africa Republic.


Three Russian Journalists Killed in Central Africa Republic Ambush

Three Russian journalists were killed in Central African Republic, their news outlet said on Tuesday, in what local authorities said was an ambush by unidentified assailants.

TsUR said the journalists had been investigating the activities of the so-called Wagner group, an organization of private military contractors which, people with ties to the group have told Reuters, carried out clandestine combat missions on the Kremlin's behalf in eastern Ukraine and Syria.

TsUR's statement said the journalists flew into Central African Republic last Friday and that its last contact with them was on Sunday evening.

The organization is financed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former Russian oil tycoon who was jailed on corruption charges and now lives outside Russia. He is one of the most vehement critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

How dangerous is Putin according to Khodorkovsky?