Svetlana Bakhmina, a former Yukos legal executive and another victim of the Yukos Affair, was interviewed by Russian radio station Echo of Moscow.

During her interview, Bakhmina, who was improperly imprisoned in 2004 and released on parole in 2009 having served her full sentence, addressed the Bolotnaya case defendants who were sentenced on February 24, 2014:

“Firstly, I wish them courage and patience. Judging by my own experience I can say that you can only understand what being in prison really means when you find yourself in prison. It is necessary to be patient and to think about your health and your loved ones. I think that for those who are behind bars, it is very important to know that they are supported, that their relatives are waiting for them at home, and that they are remembered not only by their friends, but also by regular people. It helps you to survive in those conditions. But I hope that they will be freed earlier than upon the completion of the terms that were given to them by the court.”

Bakhmina also spoke about the most difficult time of her life, the time when she refused to slander and say that “black is white, and white is black”, and for that faced the sentence of six and a half years in prison. She remembered Vasily Alexanyan, her former boss, who was imprisoned a year and a half after her. Alexanyan died on October 3, 2011, after being denied essential medical care for also refusing to tell lies about his colleagues.

During the interview Bakhmina noted that she was anticipating contact from Mikhail Khodorkovsky after his release, and noted he did, indeed, phone her.

“I cannot describe the feeling when you hear the person whom you have not heard for so many years. On the other hand, you realise that this is the same voice, the same tone. It is difficult to describe these feelings. I wished for him to see his family as soon as possible. He said “yes, this is exactly what I am doing, going to meet my family“.

The video of the interview can be watched below (in Russian)

The transcript can be read here (in Russian)