Russian radio station Echo of Moscow has interviewed Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian businessman and a leader of the political party Civil Platform.

During the interview Prokhorov stated: “I believe in the political bias of the second trial against Khodorkovsky. Therefore, my position has always been that Khodorkovsky and Lebedev should be freed, and it is preferable that the decision on their second trial is reviewed. …I just believe that a person that has been imprisoned for so many years, whose children grew up without him… I think that the first trial was more than enough. This is my humane position; I think that economic crimes should be less punishable than crimes against a person. Unfortunately, nothing has changed since the times of the Soviet Union, when embezzlement of socialist property was a more heinous crime than a crime against a person. Nothing has changed yet”.

The full version can be read in Russian HERE.