LET THEM GO NOW!
Open Letter to Leaders of Western Europe and the United States:
We believe that Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev are political prisoners whose continued incarceration is an affront to the rule of law and to law abiding citizens and democratic societies everywhere in the world. Courts in Switzerland, Great Britain and the United States have looked at various aspects of this case and have all come to the same conclusion: Khodorkovsky and his business partner, Platon Lebedev, were arrested by the Russian Government for political reasons, did not receive a fair trial and are the victims of a grave injustice.
The Swiss Federal Tribunal, Switzerland's highest court, went so far as to issue an unprecedented ruling, ordering the Swiss government not to cooperate with the Russian Government's request for documents and other information about Messrs Khodorkovsky and Lebedev's business interests in Switzerland. The Court ruled that this MLAT request was part of the Kremlin's on-going effort to persecute these two men, who are now being held in an "isolator" prison in Chita, six time zones and thousands of kilometers east of Moscow.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the United States Senate have both passed resolutions condemning the trial and imprisonment of Messrs Khodorkovsky and Lebedev. Human rights groups in Russia, Europe and the United States have said their treatment "underscores the serious erosion of the rule of law and growing intolerance for political dissent in Russia."
Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev Must Be Freed
Under Russian law and practice, prisoners who complete half their sentences without infractions are eligible for release. Platon Lebedev was eligible for parole last July 2nd. Mikhail Khodorkovsky was eligible Oct. 25th. Their continued incarceration, and the new charges the Kremlin has brought against them, are irrefutable evidence that Messrs Khodorkovsky and Lebedev are political prisoners, victims of the same regime that has used the most brutal tactics to crush its opponents and extinguish freedom in Russia.
In the name of justice, we call on Western Governments, and citizens of goodwill around he world, to join us in our effort to free Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. Their treatment is in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, of which Russia is a signatory, as well as an affront to the rule of law and to the universal values to which every country in the world, including Russia, must adhere. Our message to the Kremlin is simple: Let Them Go NOW!
-- The Committee to Free Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev
