Statements of Support (2003-2013) / Sir Rifkind, Malcolm MP

“I think he [Vladimir Putin] has misjudged the effect of what he is doing disastrously, because what started as an attempt to muzzle critics, has now made Khodorkovsky into a political martyr. (…) It was never part of Putin’s strategy for that to happen”

“On any basis, Khodorkovsky should be released. His alleged crimes do not justify his continuing incarceration. There can only be a political reason when someone who has completed their first sentence suddenly finds themselves facing new charges which conveniently lead to further sentences of imprisonment. Nobody will accept, either inside Russia or outside Russia, that that is justice. It is political manipulation of the Russian legal system”

Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP, speaking in an interview as part of the Decade of Injustice video series to mark the 10th anniversary of Khodorkovsky’s arrest, August 30, 2013