For his birthday on Friday, Russia’s most famous prisoner Mikhail Khodorkovsky held an online Q&A with readers of Gazeta.ru, a popular online daily.
In it he defends himself against allegations of robber-baronism and asset stripping, and says: “I decided to take the risk and have never felt sorry for that”.
But much more interesting than the actual ‘interview’ (in English, here) were the hundreds of comments left by readers, using their livejournal accouts.
The 360 some comments started as a popular referendum on Khodorkovsky, but quickly veered into a judgement of the environmnet out of which he rose: the 1990s.
And the picture they paint is at odds with many common perceptions of Russia.
From one point of view, the average Western reader reared on pious reporting about the injustices of his trial and expecing unanimous popular support for Khodorkovsky would be surprised by just how polarising a figure he remains.
Many commenters seethed with anger, accusing Khodorkovsky of painting himself a martyr while having looted his country in the 1990s; some even accused him of ordering the murders of his opponents.
But an equally surprising thing for observers of Russia accustomed to the passivity of state media and ubiquity of propaganda is just how many people openly voiced their support for the prisoners, coupled with vigorous denunciations of the government.
I was very surprised by the fact that the messageboards were pretty evenly split between supporters and detractors of the man.
There were those who supported him from the liberal right for being a good businessman, denoucing the state for gouging a company much more productive than the state energy enterprises.
There were those who denounced him from the patriotic right for stealing from the Soviet state in the 1990s.
Then there were those from the liberal left who hated his venal and ruthless actions but who were equally appaled by his heavy-handed and clumsy political incarceration: As one commenter wrote: ” I am ready to hate Khodorkovsky. The only things that are keeping me from doing it are the sham trial and his politically motivated capture”.
This was civil society in all its rich, vibrant action, commentary that ran the full gamut of opinion and ideology that can exist in society.
It made me hopeful that whatever the state of Russian justice it, there is a vigorous and well-informed debate that surrounds it. And no matter how many oligarchs may still be sent to jail, this genie can no longer be put back into the bottle.