Pavel Khodorkovsky, eldest son of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, met with Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi Wednesday morning in Paris. The two were hosted by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Suu Kyi, who after being placed under house arrest more than two decades ago became an international symbol for courage in the face of injustice, asked Pavel to pass along a personal message to his father: “Don’t give up your fight,” she said. “Stand firm on your principles.”

During the meeting, Pavel delivered a private letter from his father and the two discussed how she and Mikhail could begin a formal correspondence.

In the letter, Khodorkovsky is reported to have written the following:  “As I understand, your positive experience in directing political development in a fairly rigid anti-democratic government towards a path of gradual reformation may be used to return to a democratic development and government in Russia.  The measures that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi has used to oppose the Burmese government are non-violent – a peaceful protest. And, despite the fact that much time has passed, she managed to direct her government towards the gradual reforms of easing the situation and returning to democracy.”

In addition, Pavel presented her with copies of his father’s most recent books: Prisoner of Putin, about his life in the Russian penal system and his hopes for the country’s future, co-written with Russian author Natalia Gevorkyan; and Free Words, a collection of articles by and interviews of Mikhail Khodorkovsky with correspondence from three Russian authors – Boris Akunin, Ludmila Ulitskaya and Boris Strugatsky.