The letter was signed by 31 MPs from Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Belgium, Luxemburg, Great Britain, Austria, Spain, Italy, Danemark, Malta, Sweden and Ireland. In the letter, the MPs congratulated Lebedev on his birthday, and said they hoped his next birthday would be spent in a better environment than an arctic prison. The letter stated, “We are very sorry that in spite of your country’s laws that you have to spend this day far from your family and home… We hope that you can celebrate your next birthday in good conditions, surrounded by family, children and grandchildren… We assure you that we will most attentively continue to follow your case and your movements on the legal field. We will also do our best to attract attention of the European Council… We are anxiously looking at your imprisonment and the recent move to the Vorkuta district. One of our colleagues, Milan Khoracek, observed the trial of you and Mikhail Khodorkovsky in May, and left Moscow certain that the regulations that could have guaranteed a safe and justified verdict had not been followed… We are concerned that you gain access to the possibilities, guaranteed to you by your state’s international obligations, allowing a new, fair trial under fair conditions, including a possible appeal to the European Court of Human Rights… Meanwhile, we hope that you are allowed to see your family in the penal colony, or that you will be moved to a colony nearer your home.”