Boris Akunin Reacts to Punishment of Khodorkovsky

The Russian website Izbrannoye, whose motto is “The logic of the main events in Russia and the world”, has just published this brief reaction from Boris Akunin to the unintended consequences of his recently published interview with Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Photo: Grigory Chkhartishvili (Boris Akunin), courtesy of www.dom-knigi.ru.

Yesterday Mikhail Khodorkovsky was placed in the dungeon of the Chita SIZO. Reason – a publication in the Russian version of the magazine “Esquire”. This took place on the eve of that day when Khodorkovsky’s parents celebrate the jubilee of their wedding. Afterword to the interview Grigory Chkhartishvili (B.Akunin) has commented at the request of “Izbrannoye” the sending of Mikhail Khodorkovsky to the dungeon — 09.10.2008 16:02 It never ceases to amaze me – no, not even the baseness, but the impenetrable stupidity of these people. Surely they do not think that you can break Mikhail Khodorkovsky with yet another dungeon? Actually, one should say thank you to these “democrats” in epaulets: holding the pregnant Bakhmina behind bars, not letting the sick Alexanyan to get normal medical treatment, throwing Khodorkovsky in the dungeon for an interview, the jailers and their bosses are contributing to the awakening of civic feeling in the normal, non-politicized person. When something stirs you, you should not grumble in your kitchen, but act – it is with a thought like this that a civic society begins. But this, so to speak, is abstract musing. When I start to think about living people – those whom I mentioned above and not only about them – I want to write not entertaining novels, but something completely different.