Khodorkovsky lawyer says 'liberalism' article shows no backing down

Mikhail Khodorkovsky's article, 'The Crisis of Liberalism in Russia,' was not an attempt to appease the authorities, Yury Shmidt, an attorney who represents the former chief of YUKOS, has told journalists. The lawyer said: 'If Khodorkovsky had been seeking a compromise with the government, he would have acted as Vasily Shakhnovsky did-that is, he would have admitted that he'd made mistakes and paid the government compensation.' Khodorkovsky's rejection of such behavior is proof that he continues to view himself as innocent, the lawyer said.

'If the article was a confession, Khodorkovsky would get some sort of break from the government. He hasn't gotten any such thing to date,' the lawyer pointed out. Of all the commentaries on the article, the lawyer said he found Yulia Latynina's the closest to his own. She called the Khodorkovsky piece 'an application for political leadership.'