Worldwide readings by the International Literature Festival (ilb) took place on October 25, marking the tenth anniversary of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s arrest. The event aimed to express solidarity with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev and all political prisoners in Russia.

More than 100 people attended the Berlin event at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, which started with a  video directed by the human rights group iDecembrists, followed by an impressive reading of a selection from Khodorkovsky’s own writing, and an exchange of letters by the renowned German actor Burghart Klausner.

Manfred Sapper, chief editor of monthly magazine Osteuropa (Eastern Europe), moderated a panel talk with Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, the German Justice Minister, and Kerstin Holm, the long-time Moscow correspondent of the German national newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the author of several books on Russia.

Minister Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger underlined her view that when conducting research for a report to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe about Khodorkovsky’s first trial, and a report on the Russian justice system during Khodorkovsky’s second trial, she had come to the conclusion that the proceedings against Khodorkovsky were politically motivated.  She further explained that the European Court of Human Rights had not found Khodorkovsky’s case politically motivated because it’s procedures required too h igh a standard of proof.  However, she pointed out that the Strasbourg Court had explained in its ruling that it suspected that political and economic motives lay behind Khodorkovsky’s conviction.

Kerstin Holm spoke about how the perception of Khodorkovsky had changed from being an oligarch to a potential figurehead for the Russian opposition movement.

All the panelists expressed their hope that Khodorkovsky will be released next year.

At a reception, after the event, the Institute of Modern Russia hosted the Decade of Injustice exhibition.

The event was supported by Amnesty International, who collected signatures for a petition demanding Khodorkovsky’s and Lebedev’s immediate release.

The solidarity readings were matched with similar events around the World – the Sakharov Centre in Moscow, the Freedom for Russia’s Prisoners of Conscience concert in Paris, and an event in Prague organized by the Vaclav-Havel-Library.  In Austria, Elfriede Jelinek, Nobel Literature Laureate, recorded one of Khodorkovsky’s ‘Jailbirds’ columns, which was broadcast by the radio station Freirad 105.9 – Freies Radio für Innsbruck.

A report on the worldwide reading along with photographs can be found HERE