I can recall October 2003. My last day as a free man. Several weeks after my arrest, I was informed that President Putin had decided I was going to have to "slurp gruel" for eight years. It was hard to believe back then. Seven years have already gone by since that day. Seven years -- quite a long stretch of time, and all the more so, when you've spent them in jail.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky during his final address to the court in 2010
One of the most roulettian characters in modern Russian times is Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He grew up in humble circumstances in Moscow, but displayed a knack for seizing profitable opportunities. He started a computer-import business in perestroika times, went on to found one of Russia's first privately owned banks, and became unfathomably wealthy in the chaotic 90s when ruthless oligarchs made untold fortunes while the general population became ever more impoverished -- in his case, he amassed vast sums in the Siberian oil fields as head of Yukos Oil. In fact, he was the wealthiest man in Russia with almost uncountable BILLLIONS of dollars and was the wealthiest man in the world under forty.
It seems that around the turn of the millennium, Khodorkovsky underwent an ideological conversion. Unlike other oligarchs who squandered their money on extravagant parties, yachts and villas and purchased foreign soccer and basketball teams, Khodorkovsky founded a charitable organization supporting Russian non-profits and human rights groups and completely revamped Yukos, making it one of the most profitable and transparent companies in the country. And he funded the political opposition, something that in Putinian Russia could clearly not be done without repercussions. A strong warning came when his partner was arrested in July 2003. At this point, Khodorkovksy could have meekly backed down or escaped to join his billions abroad, but instead, realizing that imprisonment was virtually guaranteed, he went on a speaking tour, insisting that Russia must join the modern world. While underway, he was arrested in October 2003, charged with fraud and tax evasion, subsequently also with theft and money laundering, and as a result of two frequently described as "Kafkaesque" trials, the once wealthiest Russian has been slurping gruel in various jails and prison colonies around the country ever since, while showing a sense of decency and dignity that perhaps few expected. At this point, he is scheduled for release in 2015.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky during his final address to the court in 2010
It seems that around the turn of the millennium, Khodorkovsky underwent an ideological conversion. Unlike other oligarchs who squandered their money on extravagant parties, yachts and villas and purchased foreign soccer and basketball teams, Khodorkovsky founded a charitable organization supporting Russian non-profits and human rights groups and completely revamped Yukos, making it one of the most profitable and transparent companies in the country. And he funded the political opposition, something that in Putinian Russia could clearly not be done without repercussions. A strong warning came when his partner was arrested in July 2003. At this point, Khodorkovksy could have meekly backed down or escaped to join his billions abroad, but instead, realizing that imprisonment was virtually guaranteed, he went on a speaking tour, insisting that Russia must join the modern world. While underway, he was arrested in October 2003, charged with fraud and tax evasion, subsequently also with theft and money laundering, and as a result of two frequently described as "Kafkaesque" trials, the once wealthiest Russian has been slurping gruel in various jails and prison colonies around the country ever since, while showing a sense of decency and dignity that perhaps few expected. At this point, he is scheduled for release in 2015.
Meanwhile, there is news from Red Kirill. He’s out of the slammer after being detained for over 24 hours, ostensibly for participating in an unauthorized anti-Putin demonstration and not following police orders. So as originally planned, on Wednesday evening we all – Lawyer Misha, Spanish Teacher Tanya, Golden Retriever Konchik, Red Kirill, and I – go to Lawyer Misha’s dacha about fifty miles from Petersburg’s center. It’s holiday time again in Russia: this time they’re celebrating International Women’s Day and we have a four-day weekend ahead of us, which gives us plenty of opportunity to hear Kirill’s political adventures a number of different times.
Misha's dacha (lacking running water but sporting a well and a bucket) with Konchik enjoying the snow
The short version of Kirill's travails is thus:
With his red clothing and dreadlocks highlighting him as a beacon of dissent, he was almost immediately pulled out of the crowd by two OMON guys at 7:15 on Monday evening and brought to a bus that was filling up with other detained protestors and bystanders. Documents were checked, a few people were released, but most of them – thirty or so in number -- were transported to a police station on the outskirts of town – "the other precincts had already reached capacity.“ 
As we walk along the frozen, snow-covered river, Kirill regales us with his adventures.
The detainees were brought into a large room, there was more waiting while documents were checked and protocols completed. Water and some food from police cupboards were provided, but there were no blankets or pillows, people built their nests for the night as best they could. Kirill slept on a raised, stage-like platform that was covered with utilitarian carpet. "I can sleep anywhere,“ he said, "For me this was not problem. I have such a sleep deficit! There’s always so much going on! No time to sleep. So if I’m not doing something I immediately crash.“
"The cops were okay. They said, 'we’re not the ones who arrested you, OMON made us take you, we’re just doing our job.' And the other people with me, they were super, no criminals, all upstanding activists, I could sit in jail with people like that for a month. Tea, food, good company, what more do you need?“
The other face of OMON
"Alexander Ivanovich Vorontsov, Cavalier of Three Orders of Courage.
Our Work is to Protect Citizens"
This poster at a bus stop has been partially pasted over with ads for a one-room $300 apartment; apartment renovation; an office dispatcher -- girl between the ages of 18 and 28; and Oksana: "waiting to meet you!"
The next morning it was back in the bus and off to the center of town for an appearance at the courthouse on Sadovya Street.
"But the courthouse was so jammed with detainees that we had to wait in the bus. It was amazing, all sorts of people came to support us, asked what we wanted, brought us coffee, tea, food from McDonalds. The police took us to the pizza joint in front of the bus when we needed to use the restroom. No problem. Just that it was so cold in the bus and we had to wait so long.“
All those detained (the police say close to 300, the protest groups claim almost 500) were charged with participating in an unauthorized demonstration and failing to follow police instructions. Perhaps some folks didn’t follow police instructions to disband but at certain places on the square it was hard to hear anything the police were saying, and it was clear, OMON was looking to grab people. One recalls Stalin’s famous thesis: "Get me the person, and we’ll find the article to charge him with.“
Speaking of Stalin, not far from Misha's dacha, on private property, stands a benevolent Stalin statue, graced with fake flowers.
"So after hours of waiting, I finally had my, ahem, night in court. We had the choice to either sign and go home, or not sign and who knows what would happen? I thought about refusing, but there was no guarantee that I’d be brought back to that same precinct, you can’t tell the police where to take you. I might have landed in a real jail with criminals and alkies, hell on earth. Plus I was in custody for over 26 hours – exhausting! So almost everyone signed, we were fined 500 rubles per charge, altogether 1000 rubles [about $30].“
Kirill slowly started winding down, "I told them all, I’m going to these demonstrations because Putin says we’re living in a democracy. So I’m exercising my democratic rights. If it’s a totalitarian state, tell me and I’ll act differently. Yeah, well, they basically shrugged their shoulders at that. No, I don’t feel like a hero. I feel like a real human being. Putin just got elected for another six years and I was sitting in jail. That was the right place to be.“
Finally, a joke from jail: "If you don’t want your vote to be stolen, vote for Putin.“
No comments:
Post a Comment