Declaration by Union of Right Forces on fifth anniversary of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s arrest

Five years have passed since Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested. All that has happened since then has merely confirmed our initial assessment that the Yukos affair was an act of vengeance by the authorities against their opponents and had nothing to do with normal judicial proceedings.

The arrest and imprisonment of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, and the barbaric, mediaeval cruelty to Svetlana Bakhmina, have caused enormous economic, political and moral damage to our courage. They demonstrated the complete absence in Russia of independent courts and of channels through which society can influence those in power.

We demand the release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev and Svetlana Bakhmina.

We demand the release of all other political prisoners.

We express our sincere respect for Mikhail Khodorkovsky, for the courage and dignity with which he bears the ordeals that have befallen him, and wish him liberty in the nearest future.

The Presidium of the federal political council of the Union Right Forces