Khodorkovsky gets family support

By Artyom Liss
BBC News Online, Moscow



"Move back, move back! Yes, you, in the silly red jumper!"
Security guards at the Moscow court that began hearing the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Friday were obviously having a hard time.

It is very seldom that they have to deal with a horde of journalists, pushing and shoving as they try to get a glimpse of Russia's richest man being taken into a tiny courtroom.

The hearing was held behind closed doors and the corridor was awash with rumours.

"He's wearing a black sweater and matching jeans! Definitely not - he was dressed in blue! The lawyers will go outside to have a cigarette soon, I have been watching the clock! Rubbish! There won't be a break until after midday!"

Staying mum

A few feet away, a tiny group of four - an elderly lady, a grey-haired man and two middle-aged women in smart clothes - were a striking contrast to the seething crowd of journalists.

He looks and feels OK, that's the main thing

Marina Khodorkovskaya

The parents, wife and sister of Russia's richest man, spent most of the time staring at the courtroom door in almost total silence.

They wanted to make sure they would not miss the rare opportunity to see Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

"We have been told they wouldn't allow us into the courtroom itself as it's a closed hearing," his mother told me.

"But we still decided we should come here. Maybe I'll see his face - if only just for a moment."

Every week, Marina Khodorkovskaya is allowed two meetings with her son.

The previous one was on Tuesday, and this was when she was told there would be no more appointments until after the trial.

"He looks and feels OK, that's the main thing," she says. "He's really courageous, and then, they treat him well in prison.

"He even got his teeth fixed there - he never really had the time to do this before the arrest."

Hard times

Marina says that she is allowed to send her son food and clothes - but no medicines.

"He was really suffering of heartburn during his first two months in prison, but they didn't allow me to send him any drugs.

"Their line was that, in the prison doctor's view, Mikhail is healthy. But what do you expect from a prison doctor?

"His only job is to sign the papers saying that my son is fit to stand trial, nothing else," she complains in a tired voice.

These are obviously hard times for her - but Mikhail Khodorkovsky's mother is sure that there are even more challenges ahead.

The trial will, most probably, last for another few months.

Back in the USSR?

After the verdict, Marina thinks, her son might well be sent to a Siberian labour camp.

"He knows he can be sentenced to 10 years in jail, and he's ready to face it. He will never give up or emigrate and, of course, neither will we.

"We love this country, even though it's becoming more and more like the Stalin's Soviet Union.

"And we brought up our son as a true patriot. Don't worry, we'll get through this," she says.

As Mikhail Khodorkovsky's mother turned away to check on the courtroom door again, one of the journalists made a loud reproach to his colleagues.

"Can't somebody offer a seat to the elderly lady there?"

The reply came immediately: "Who exactly are you calling elderly, young man?"


HERE