In a predawn raid on October 25, 2003, armed commandos stormed a jet on the tarmac of a Siberian airport and arrested Mikhail Khodorkovsky at gunpoint. He has been in detention ever since, enduring two Kafkaesque trials, torturous conditions of imprisonment and isolation from his family. The Yukos Oil Company he led was destroyed and its assets unlawfully expropriated.

Khodorkovsky’s imprisonment and the destruction of Yukos have had an enormous, negative impact on Russia, playing an integral part in a political transformation that now endangers Russia’s future. The interlude presidency of Dmitry Medvedev offered hopes for modernisation and reform that have since proved illusory. Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin has sent Russia hurtling ever further down the road of state corruption, economic stagnation and contempt for the rule of law.

A decade ago, Khodorkovsky was known around the world for his business achievements and philanthropy. He had also become a powerful opponent of Kremlin policies and a public irritant for the country’s leadership. Khodorkovsky’s words and actions made him Russia’s leading force for a more robust civil society, democratic pluralism, a globally integrated market economy and a business environment rid of the rampant corruption stunting the country’s growth. One cannot help but wonder how much freer, more vibrant and more prosperous Russia would be today if the Kremlin’s vision had been aligned with Khodorkovsky’s.

Despite grave personal risks, Khodorkovsky continues to speak out. In February 2012, he stated: “Abuse of power in Russian politics has been allowed to flourish too long. We need to modernise our economy, build a genuine civil society, end legal nihilism and stamp out corruption. We need to do this to build a better life for our children and our children’s children, and for the country we love to prosper and to be engaged usefully in a changed and changing world.”

These words not only articulate the demands and desires of the growing public opposition movement in Russia, but also reflect the values and goals to which Khodorkovsky has irreversibly committed his life, at the cost of his own freedom.

The 10th anniversary of Khodorkovsky’s arrest, October 25, 2013, is rapidly approaching. In the run-up to this anniversary, events will be organised in Russia and around the world to mark the sacrifices made by Khodorkovsky over these ten years, to support his vision for the future and to call for his freedom.