Warsaw, 19 December – Today Pavel Khodorkovsky, the President of the Institute of Modern Russia met with former Polish President Lech Walesa, to discuss what can be done to free his father.

Lech Walesa supports Pavel Khodorkovsky’s activities to encourage democratisation in Russia. He offered advice and support and expressed his solidarity with Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other political prisoners, according to a Lech Wałęsa Institute representative.

Pavel Khodorkovsky said “the future of my father is linked to the future of democracy in Russia. If Putin becomes the president for the next two terms, he will remain in the position forever, becoming a lifetime dictator. I don’t believe this will happen. I hope that my country, and my father, will be liberated before 2016”.

Lech Walesa “declared that he will mention the problem of political prisoners in the Russian Federation to other Nobel Prize winners at the earliest opportunity”, emphasising the importance of solidarity with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Pavel reported after the meeting.

Please find related article in Polish here
The photo has been conducted from Walesa’s blog
The update on the meeting can be found on the Lech Wałęsa Institute website