The following is a translation of an interview with Mikhail Khodorkovsky published in Sobesednik by Elena Skvortsova.

The court – an appendage of the “vertical”

– On December 3, Vladimir Putin spoke out about the YUKOS case. It was essentially understood from his words just what outcome he expects from the trial. Nevertheless, on December 12, you said in the British newspaper Metro that the premier no longer exerts any influence on the trial. Is there any evidence of this?

– Right now, answering that same question now that I know what Putin said, I shall express an opinion: if the premier needed to issue a directive to the court or to the investigators, he could (and can) do this far less publicly. Therefore, his declaration, without a doubt, is political. But there is also no doubt that it has a direct impact on all the structures that are built into the “vertical”. The reason is obvious – the awareness by interested parties in the premier’s retinue of the extent to which the current charge has completely collapsed.