Khodorkovsky sees new hope in 'awakening' of civil society

Jailed Kremlin critic and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has found new hope in the "real awakening" of Russian civil society, his son said. Once Russia's richest man, the ex Yukos chief -- imprisoned since 2003 -- is set to remain behind bars until 2016 after being convicted in two fraud trials in what his supporters say is a case of personal vendetta on the part of Russian President Vladimir Putin. "For the first time in the past nine years, he has actually got this new hope," Pavel Khodorkovsky said of his father on Tuesday in an interview with AFP. "That hope is not linked to any legal processes or the possibility of a presidential pardon. No. It's most closely linked with a real awakening of Russia's civil society." The 27-year-old, who has lived in the United States for nine years, was in Washington for a conference organized by his pro-democracy Institute of Modern Russia. Recent protests in Russia "mean that the so-called social contract foregoing freedoms and human rights in exchange for stability in economic prosperity ... is expiring," he said. The younger Khodorkovsky said Barack Obama's re-election, in relieving the pressure of a campaign, provides for more freedom "in determining a more appropriate, balanced foreign policy towards Russia." "It's important for the American public to understand what kind of Russia, as a country, is waiting on the other side of this bilateral relationship," he said, calling the current regime "practically authoritarian." Khodorkovsky, addressing his father's detention, said he "never complains" and is in "very good" mental and physical health. Since his transfer this year to a new prison camp on the border with Finland where he works in manufacturing of small office goods, Khordorkovsky is allowed to speak by phone 15 minutes a week, he said. Khodorkovsky dedicates his few hours of "so-called free time" to writing, added his son, who last saw his father a month before he was arrested. Pavel Khodorkovsky, who has a young daughter, said he has not been back to Russia since out of fear he "might become a leverage that can be used against my father." "What Mr Putin wants is an admission of guilt ... he always brings up the topic of admission of guilt, so I don't want to become this leverage." Asked about a new trial, he said: "Frankly it doesn't matter because if there is no rule of law in a country like Russia, it doesn't matter how many trials you can have." Khodorkovsky and former Yukos business partner Platon Lebedev were convicted of fraud and tax evasion in their first trial. Their second trial in 2010 -- held months before their scheduled release -- extended their jail stay through 2016 on disputed embezzlement and money laundering charges. Earlier this month, a Russian court upheld a decision to release Lebedev three years early.