(((It would take a Tolstoy, a Dostoevsky... no, even he would balk.
Too melodramatic.)))
KHODORKOVSKY LAUNCHES SYMPATHY HUNGER STRIKE. Jailed former Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky has declared a hunger strike in support of former Yukos Vice President Vasily Aleksanyan, Russian media reported on January 30. Aleksanyan, who has been held without trial for two years, reportedly has AIDS and has been denied medical treatment, despite an order from the European Court of Human Rights that he be given proper medical care (see "RFE/RL Newsline," January 15 and 17, 2008). A Moscow court on January 30 held a preliminary hearing of Aleksanyan's case, despite a request from the defense that it be postponed because of his deteriorating health. Ekho Moskvy reported on January 31 that Aleksanyan was brought by force into the courtroom that day and that he told journalists that he had recently been diagnosed with lymphoma as well. Aleksanyan is charged with embezzlement and money laundering, charges that he denies. Khodorkovsky's lawyer, Yury Shmidt, told Ekho Moskvy on January 31 that Khodorkovsky intends to continue his hunger strike until Aleksanyan is admitted to a hospital. A prison official in Chita, where Khodorkovsky is being held, told Interfax on January 31 that Khodorkovsky could be punished for "refusing to take food." RC
(((Meanwhile, the Russian intelligentsia are even deader than oil-company vice-presidents stricken with AIDS...)))
IS THE INTELLIGENTSIA DEAD? A recent poll by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) indicates that the long-respected Russian concept of the intelligentsia is on the verge of extinction, commentator Sergei Shelin wrote on gazeta.ru on January 30. The poll found that 26 percent of respondents, asked to name someone "famous in Russia" whom they regard as intelligent, named President Putin, followed in second place by First Deputy Prime Minister Medvedev with 6 percent. Filmmaker Nikita Milkalkov came in third with 3 percent, tied with First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov.
Less than 3 percent of respondents mentioned the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, Nobel Literature Prize laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, or the late historian Dmitry Likhachyov. The most important result, according to Shelin, is that 43 percent of respondents were unable to name anyone. Asked to characterize a member of the intelligentsia, more than half of respondents said "educated" or "smart," while about one-quarter said "polite" or "cultured." Only 2 percent of respondents said members of the intelligentsia should be "politically or socially active," while only 1 percent said it is important they "have their own point of view." Forty-two percent of respondents nationally, and 65 percent in Moscow, said the influence of the intelligentsia has declined since the collapse of the Soviet Union. RC
