Statement by Mikhail Khodorkovsky
The attached statement comes directly from Mikhail Khodorkovsky. 
Statement by Mikhail Khodorkovsky Chita, Pretrial detention center Moscow 7 February 2007 Today, my friend Platon Lebedev and I were charged with new ungrounded, absurd indictment. Next things that are going to happen with us now are absolutely obvious for us: false and fraud evidence, statements by frightened or misled pseudo-witnesses, and most likely the 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. People who invented “Khodorkovsky case” in order to steal Yukos, the most prosperous company in Russia, are very much afraid to see me freed and want to insure themselves against the possibility of my conditional release. These miserable people seem to seriously believe that human and historical evaluation of their actions depends on yet another false verdict by Bassmany-Meshansky court. They do not understand they are further complicating their own position, cornering themselves by the 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 voluntary transfer of power in Russia by the means of honest, fair and transparent elections, where the new president of our country would have been elected. And this person should have nothing in common with the giant corruption machine that has paralyzed Russia, the person with a respect toward judicial independence. My task in the upcoming process is to demonstrate by my own example that current Russia is a country with custom-designed rule of law, where the law enforcement system, as well as the international cooperation of law enforcement agencies, are being used not only for the fight against criminality, but also in corrupt officials’ political and personal interests. A priori false accusations ordered by political authorities are easily stamped by investigators and signed by the court. And the current ruling elite and power bears no shame. The court, having become the integral part of the “power vertical”, will, no doubt, sign under a guilty verdict. I am not scared by the new verdict. Does the number of years in jail I get under the false accusations make any difference at all? No decent person in the world would believe my pursuers (supporters of “the second term of Khodorkovsky”) anyway. Platon’s and my personal destiny is defined solely by our motherland’s destiny and its face after the power change in 2008. I do believe that the truth and fairness will prevail.
