Mikhail Khodorkovsky Responds to Questions Surrounding Hunger Strike

August 24, 2005
As passed through his lawyers

When did you embark on the hunger strike?

I started it late in the night on August 19, when I learned that my friend Platon Lebedev was put into an isolation ward.

Why did not you make your hunger strike known on Monday, August 22?

I hoped that common sense would prevail and Platon (whose poor health is well-known) would be returned to his cell. Had that happened, I would have ended my hunger strike immediately.

Why did not you send a notification of your hunger strike to the head of the detention center, as the rules suggest?

I have no claims to the DC administration. It was not the DC administration that decided to put Platon in a punishment cell, and so my hunger strike is not a protest against the detention center measures. That’s why I sent no notifications.

Mr. Kalinin, Head of the Federal Punishment Administration Service, said that you were not on a hunger strike and you get sufficient food packages. Is it true?

Much has been said about the true value of Mr. Kalinin’s words. I won’t repeat. I will add only that my 15 neighbors (most of them are 20-25 years old) will never starve while I am in the same cell.