Mikhail Khodorkovsky Might Go To Court Again�

Honor and Dignity

Yesterday, in Khamovniki Court of Moscow there was a first day of hearings of the case Federal Penitentiary Service (FPS) versus TV Channel Ren TV, TV anchor Marianna Maximovskaya, and attorneys of former head of YUKOS Mikhail Khodorkovsky and former head of MENATEP Platon Lebedev. Because defense did not show up at court the court session had to be postponed.
As Kommersant reported earlier (Dec.16, 2005) FPS did not like the program “Week with Marianna Maximovskaya,” which aired on Aug. 27, 2005. The program was about putting Platon Lebedev in solitary confinement and Mikhail Khodorkovsky announced a hunger strike because of that. The FTS considered the phrase of Maximovskaya about Khodorkovsky’s hunger strike as not true. The federal agency also saw statements of attorneys Evgeny Baru and Yuri Schmidt, who described the bad prison conditions of their clients, as “a slander against Matrosskaya Tishina penitentiary employees.” The FTS filed a law suit about defending its honor, dignity and business reputation and demanded from defendants a public retraction of their statements.

Maximovskaya and Ren TV channel lawyer Alexander Polozok came to court yesterday. However, instead of attorneys Baru and Schmidt, their colleague Vladimir Krasnov showed up. He presented documents to the judge that Evgeny Baru is visiting his client Platon Lebedev in prison facility located in village Harp. He also reported that Yuri Schmidt is currently sick. The court considered the reasons for not showing as satisfactory and postponed the hearing.

Maximovskaya also suggested inviting Mikhail Khodorkovsky to court as a witness for the defense: “FTS in its appeal says that my statement about Khodorkovsky’s hunger strike is false. Then, let him say personally in front of the court if he had a hunger strike or not.”

The hearings will be open again on January 19.

Kommersant will be monitoring the process.

Kommersant, 12.20.2005