Speaking in an interview with Al Jazeera, Pavel Khodorkovsky comments on the recent verdict handed down against opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

“The system operates extra-judicially – there is nothing that has anything to do with justice that has been happening in Kirov, it’s all part of a campaign of persecution,” said Khodorkovsky, whose father, Mikhail, has spent almost ten years in jail as a political prisoner. “I think this should all be viewed in the way of how does it serve the current interests of the government. And I think that the decision to release Alexei Navalny today is useful for two reasons: as duly noted by some observers, it helps to appease the crowds which have gathered in Moscow, but also, it helps to legitimize the mayoral elections in Moscow.”