Khodorkovsky Urges Russians to Pull Together to Challenge Putin
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Kremlin opponent who spent a decade in prison, on Saturday launched a movement to bring together pro-European Russians to challenge strongman Vladimir Putin's grip on power.
Once Russia's richest man, Khodorkovsky was released from prison late last year and is now based in Switzerland. He urged his compatriots to pull together to be able to influence the fate of the country.
"A minority will be influential if it is organised," he said as he announced the launch of his new movement called Open Russia.
Khodorkovsky stressed that his new project -- dubbed after his eponymous charity that was shut down after his imprisonment - would be an online "platform" for like-minded people, not a political party.
Upon his release from prison Khodorkovsky vowed to stay out of politics. But his new project appears to belie his political ambitions.
The soft-spoken former head of the now defunct Yukos oil firm said all those supporting a pro-European course for Russia should unite ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for 2016.
The launch of the group comes as Kremlin critics say the country, locked in a dramatic confrontation with the West over Ukraine, is hurtling toward political and economic catastrophe.
The West and Kiev accuse the Kremlin of invading Ukraine and threatening stability of the entire Europe.
- 'We are Europe' -
Khodorkovsky said he and he allies believed that ordinary people could make Russia, which has been saddled with several rounds of biting Western sanctions, change direction.
"We support what they call the European choice or a state governed by the rule of law," said Khodorkovsky.
"We believe that the statement 'Russia is not Europe' is a lie that is being imposed on society on purpose.
"This is being done by those who want to rule the country for life, those who want to spit upon law and justice," Khodorkovsky said in a thinly veiled reference to Putin, the former KGB operative who came to power in 1999.
"We are Europe, both in terms of geography and culture. In fact, the European way of development does not mean rejection of national values. In Europe every country follows its own path.
"We are not simply Russian Europeans. We are patriots.
"And true patriots even during pitch-dark reaction should serve their country and their people."
Putin, by comparison, has sought to promote Russia as an antithesis of the West and claimed isolation would be a boon for the country.
After serving two terms as president and a stint as prime minister, Putin returned to the Kremlin for a third term in 2012 despite big protests against his rule.
A crackdown on dissenters dramatically intensified after the Kremlin annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March.
Opinion polls show that a majority support Putin's policies but economists say that could change as Russia is sliding into recession.
Putin stunned Russians by announcing last December he was pardoning Khodorkovsky, his fierce critic, on humanitarian grounds.
Khodorkovsky spent a decade in prison after being convicted of economic crimes in trials that many believe were revenge for challenging the Kremlin.
Source: Agence France Presse
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