Russian Oppositionist Novodvorskaya Comments on Khodorkovsky Case
Prominent Russian publicist and opposition activist Valeria Novodvorskaya remarks on the Khodorkovsky and Yukos case in an interview with Russian radio Echo of Moscow.
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Novodvorskaya: A strong person is always more likely to win. Courage knows its purpose. The main thing is to go in the right direction; (talked about law enforcement pursuit of the oppositionist Alexey Navalny)
Host: Wow. Let’s remember Khodorkovsky. He, probably, has had plenty of courage. However, he is imprisoned.
Novodvorskaya: You know, there is history. Before imprisoning Khodorkovsky, they, firstly, didn’t know that he would find such strength in himself and that he (Khodorkovsky), Pichugin, Lebedev and Svetlana Bahmina would behave in such way.
Host: But, didn’t they know him before?
Novodvorskaya: No, they didn’t. Because before he wasn’t interested in politics; when he was offered political protection for his business, he said: “Why do I need this?” He wasn’t aware that the system needs to be fought with. He has only understood it when he found himself imprisoned. If he had understood it before, perhaps things would have been different… or the same, but his behaviour surprised them.
Of course, they wanted his company, they wanted to profit from it. If they only knew what it would cost them; because the people turned out to be, mainly, decent (Aleksanyan sacrificed his life in order not to slander); if they knew that then perhaps they wouldn’t have done anything.
There wasn’t any business solidarity either. Who stood up for them? Who closed their businesses? Who organized the strike? Who of the businessmen said “We won’t cooperate with this authority?”
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