Protest against punishment of Khodorkovsky continues

Members of the Chita committee in support of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev are continuing their hunger strike in protest against Khodorkovsky’s punishment for his interview with Boris Akunin.

The protest, now in its fourth day, is taking place in the office of the Centre for Civic Initiatives. The hunger strike began on Friday (5 pm local time). Today at 2 pm local time the hunger strikers Marina Sukhinina, Valery Nemerov and Marina Savateyeva were joined by a fourth participant, Tatyana Maltseva.

They are drinking only water and are under the observation of hunger-striker Sukhinina who is a hospital nurse. “I feel okay today but yesterday I was very weak and my head was spinning,” says Savateyeva. “Those who have fasted say that the third day is the breaking point and then things get easier.”

She says that they have received many calls in support from Chita, other districts within the region and from other Russian cities. The protestors are hoping they will be strong enough to continue until Mikhail Khodorkovsky is released from the punishment cell.