Prigovor.ru: The Court of Appeal in the United States definitively defeated the claim of the 'insulted' wife of the oil swindler Mikhail Khodorkovsky. She entered into the role of Lady Macbeth of the London District.
On July 23, in the Court of Appeal of Washington, District Columbia, the case was considered Khodorkovskaya vs. Jacquelyn G. Gay and Kenneth K. Lin. In her stated claims, Khodorkovskaya accused the authors of the theatrical production 'Kleptocracy' suggesting that they had depicted her 'as prostitute and murderer', and demanded compensation to the extent of 75 000 US dollars.
This court history started on March 23, 1019, with the filing of the claim in the Court of Washington, District Columbia, by Inna Khodorkovskaya, resident of London, to the theater director Jacquelyn Gay and to play-write Kenneth Lin, known, in particular, as the author of the serial 'House of Cards'.
Depiction of Ms. Khodorkovskaya as prostitute and murderer, and Mr. Khodorkovsky as corrupt soul-murderer
The website 'Progovor.ru' proposes to its readers to get acquainted with the complaint of Inna Khodorkovskaya, the main part of which is a crashing version, according to which the defendants are no others than Kremlin's agents. According to the 'insulted' claimant, the creator of the piece are the very 'Kremlin's hand' that has reached an American theater and belied the well-meaning Khodorkovsky's couple. The claimant, apparently, has not even understood the gist of the play, in which, according to the authors' conception, president Putin, sure enough, is depicted as the main negative character.
Already the beginning of the complaint doesn't look like a judicial document, but more like a leading article of the Washington Post, the newspaper, which the immigrants themselves, shocked by its somersaults, have dubbed 'Pravda on Potomac'.
'The claimant Inna Khodorkovskaya (Ms. Khodorkovskaya), acting through the undersigned counsel, presents plaint against the defendants – Jacquelyn Gay and Kenneth Lin.
'Since at least 2003, the Russian government (and its President) have engaged in an organized disinformation campaign targeted Ms. Khodorkovskaya's husband, Mikhail Khodorkovsky in order to destroy his reputation and eliminate him as a political opponent, to undermine democracy and human rights in the Russian Federation, and protect the President of Russia Vladimir Putin's corrupt regime.
'The Defendants' depiction of Ms. Khodorkovskaya as a prostitute and a murderer, and Mr. Khodorkovsky as corrupt and murderer in 'Kleptocracy' are not only false but also part of this long-standing disinformation campaign orchestrated by Kremlin. This campaign and the involvement of the Defendants in it are explained in greater detail thereunder.’
So, like this. There are no dull references to laws, no extracts from the play. Instead, a lot of things about authoritarianism and democracy. What are the facts for, when the 'victim of the regime' protects itself? And now, let's consider the most vivid paragraphs of the claim of the spouse of the fugitive oligarch.
Paragraph 4. 'The Defendants, Jacquelyn G. Gay and Kenneth K. Lin have become an integral part of the efforts of the Russian government to malign Mr. Khodorkovskii. In furtherance of the Kremlin's scheme to falsely discredit Mr. Khodorkovskii, Defendants have written and produced a highly inaccurate and offensive play that sacrifices the truth to support the Kremlin's agenda'
Paragraph 5. 'Not content with falsely maligning Mr. Khodorkovskii, the Defendants take aim at his wife, Inna Khodorkovskaya, by falsely portraying her as a prostitute and a murderer.
Paragraph 46. 'There is no doubt that 'these actions were taken in order to support the Russian government's actions to discredit Mr. Khodorkovsky and weaken his efforts to bring democracy and human rights to Russia and to eliminate corruption within the government'.
Paragraphs 47 – 52. 'The Play was directed by Defendant Jacquelyn G. Gay who used her creative skills to portray Ms. Khodorkovskaya in a false light by portraying her as a prostitute and a murderer. Specifically, the play begins with a scene portraying Ms. Khodorkovskaya as a prostitute…Specifically, the play portrays Mr. Petukhov (the mayor of Nefteyugansk) being shot in the head… As the murder takes place, Mr. Khodorkovskii and Ms. Khodorkovskaya are portrayed as being nearby. Mr. Khodorkovskii is portrayed as being in close proximity. Mr. Khodorkovskii is portrayed as being covered with Mr. Petukhov's blood and is exorcising his purported guilt with a Pontius Pilate-like washing of his hands.'
As is clear from the above-cited extracts, Ms. Khodorkovskaya has claims not only to the authors of the play – this complaint is literally permeated with the inflated self-esteem: the notorious 'Kremlin's hand' is so long that it even orders theater plays to ridicule the Khodorkovskiis. And, at that, not in MKHAT Theater at Kamergerskyi Lane, but in America!
But we are more intrigued by the word 'lie' which Ms. Khodorkovskaya so often uses in her claim. Perhaps, the reason is that she herself lied in court and mislead it. In particular, in her Paragraph 56, she asserts:
'In fact, neither Mr. Khodorkovskii nor Ms. Khodorkovskaya had any involvement in the murder of Mr. Petukhov, have never been charged with that murder and have never been connected to it by anyone unassociated with the Kremlin/Putin propaganda.'
But, a versed reader has no difficulty in ascertaining that the claimant, to put it mildly, plays cunning: there have been accusations and judicial decisions. It's worth reminding that, as early as December 11, 2015, The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation passed a resolution on bringing to responsibility the former head of YUKOS Mikhail Khodorkovskyi as a defendant in a criminal proceeding pertaining to the murder of the mayor of Nefteyugansk Vladimir Petukhov, and on December 23, it arrested him in absentia and issued an international arrest warrant.
Perhaps, this couple didn't know that the head of the family 'unexpectedly' had been already on the wanted list. Once more, negative. Mikhail Khodorkovsky unequivocally knew that he was accused of organizing the murder of Petukhov, mayor of Nefteyugansk. Besides, he cynically reacted to the subpoena serviced to him with regard to this case and paste the following post on Twitter: 'Bleak attempt to change the subject-matter'.
The specter of the mayor of Nefteyugansk Petukhov comes to Khodorkovsky every night
On January 18, 2019, the play 'Kleptocracy' premiered at the Arena Stage Theater in Washington, District Columbia. This play is based on the events which happened in Russia at the end of XX – beginning of the XXI century. The play begins with the scene showing how young Mikhail Khodorkovsky sells vouchers. At the same time, he gets acquainted and have relations with Inna, his future wife. Then the spectators view him at the moment when he is already the owner of the oil company Yukos. The mayor of the town Nefteyugansk Petukhov crosses his way. In one of the scenes, Nevzlin and Inna instigate Khodorkovskyi to kill Petukhov. Khodorkovskyi agrees, and Petukhov is murdered. At one moment, the spectators can see on Khodorkovsky the blood of Petukhov murdered by him.
The hero of the play with the family name Khodorkovskyi is taken to prison where he passes his time while reading letters of the murdered, and at this moment the specter of the murdered mayor comes to him. Then his wife visits him and reasons him to break out from the prison and from Russia, and after long meditations, he agrees.
It ought to be noted that this play has not received an elicit response from American viewers. Critics, of course, didn't miss it, and reviews were published. In particular, they came to the same conclusion that the play described painful, contradictory events, happened in Russia just after the collapse of the Soviet Union, But the lack of enthusiasm they connect to the fact that it is not for the broad audience as it presupposes deep knowledge of the socio-political processes in the Post-Soviet Russia.
In particular, columnist Peter Marks in his article in the Washington Post on January 28, 2019 writes:
'The play 'Kleptoicracy', staged with phlegmatic seriousness by Jacquelyn G. Gay, doesn't capture you unless you really want to know about the metamorphosis of the post-soviet, post-perestroika Russia, as well as about how the movement to more political and economic freedom can lead to the arrival of the class of baron-robbers'.
By the way, the newspaper The Guardian on January 10, 2019, that is, a week before the premiere, published a review of this play which included an interview with Kenneth Lin, the author of this play.
'This is also Khodorkovsky's play. He was the richest and arguably most ruthless oligarch during the wild west capitalism that filled the Soviet vacuum', so the article goes.
Then the playwright argues that the problems, which are raised in this play, can also be of current interest for America. 'When does capitalism turn into kleptocracy? When does democracy fall prey to manipulation? What is our greater impact on the world stage? I feel like a lot of those themes that we struggle with as Americans are the same that Russians are struggling with'.
It's important to note that representatives of the American theatrical scene understood the importance of the events described in this play as well as the fact that for Russia those terrible years were the time of desperate struggle of the new class of the rich and the state. The state, which Vladimir Putin began to symbolize. Here is what said, for instance, the art-director of the Arena Stage Theatre Molly Smith before the premiere:
'Kleptocracy is the most dangerous play at Arena Stage this season. Dangerous because playwright Kenneth Lin has taken us right into the heart of greed, manipulation, and the rise of the wealthy and Putin in Russia in the 1990s and 2000s, reminding us of where we are now. It is a fascinating prism through which to look at our own relationship with Russia in the United States now.’
The complaint of Inna Khodorkovskaya which for some reason looked at the character of the play – 'prostitute and murderer' – as in a mirror, and has also become a review sui generis of the play.
Probably, Inna Khodorkovskaya recognized herself in this play and at once perceived this character as a personal insult. A humorous situation was created. The authors of the play referred to the materials of the Western press which till 2003, that is till the arrests, presented Khodorkovsky as a typical representative of the Russian oligarchy of the 1990s (he was, certainly, such a representative).
Extract from the Ruling of the United States Court of Appeal of the District of Columbia with regard to the claim of Khodorkovskaya from 23.07.2021. In their decision, the Judges recalled Lady Macbeth instigating her husband to kill King Duncan:
'Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill King Duncan. (Indeed, like Lady Macbeth, Inna later helps Mikhail figure out to handle the fallout from committing murder). Of course, a reasonable viewer need not recognize the parallels between Inna and Lady Macbeth. But the viewer can readily see Inna's influence over Mikhail in this scene as a dramatic device in a concededly fictional play, rather than as, somehow, an expression of actual facts about the real-life Inna amidst various self-evidently counterfactual elements', the Decision says.
On the whole, a picture takes shape – Lady Macbeth of the London District.
But western journalists from 2003 as by command started to write about 'Putin's victims’ – about saint Mikhail and Inna which loves him – only good things, but the playwrights with their historical truth… In the end, Khodorkovskaya ganged up not against journalists, but against the playwrights. It means that Gogol was right, and artistic sincerity sometimes turns out stronger than a direct statement.
The resume of this play, published on the website of this theater, didn't help the authors of the play to protect themselves from the anger of the wife of the ex-oligarch: 'Fictional play inspired by historic events.'
Although, as a trigger to making the claim, served, probably, the preview in the same place – on the website of the Theater:
'It is one of the most pivotal moments in history – the Soviet Union has collapsed. In the ensuing rampage of hyper-capitalism, the Oligarchs, a new class of robber-barons, plunge Russia into a terrifying dark age of chaos and corruption. When the richest and the most ruthless Oligarch attempts to reform and open Russian markets to the world, he's confronted with a young Vladimir Putin who is charting his own path to power. This world-premiere drama by Kenneth Lin (House of Cards) turns the spotlight on the U.S. – Russia relations when crude oil is the language of diplomacy and events that dominate today's headlines are first set in motion.'
You must admit that it sounds a bit naïve, with its dramatizing and simplifications, but this is theatre. Strange people, these fighters against the 'bloody regime'. For themselves, they demand from the state full freedom of speech, and they are not ready to allow the state to regulate anything. But, to extend this freedom on others – be that even 'critics of Putin' – these gentlemen, these Russian ultra-liberals, do not want. As soon as they hear somebody's opinion which doesn't correspond with their own, they instantly appeal to allegedly 'small and compact' (in their mottos), state, and hysterically demand that this very almighty and totalitarian state immediately turn on its repressive machine and punish these cheeky fellows daring to dissent.
That is how the Khdorkovskyi couple understands freedom of the creative work.
Selective understanding of freedom of speech
It is amusing how Western 'beacons of freedom' have reacted to this event. 'Radio Free Europe – (RFE is a foreign agent) – posted a photos of Khodorkovskyi's wife, daughter, and mother made in 2010 - with sour, mournful faces corresponding to the term of incarceration of the patron (Evidently, other pictures were not made then, and new were not found in the photo-archives of RFE). By the way, editors even didn't think how ironical it looked with the heading 'U.S. Judge Throws Out Libel Lawsuit By Khodorkovsky's Wife Over D.C. Play'.
Apropos, we remind our readers that, on July 23, a sitting took place of the Court in Switzerland, part of The International Court of Appeal in The Hague, to examine the claim of one of the ex-affiliate of Yukos – Yukos Capital S.A.R.L. to the Russian Federation. The Dutch Yukos Foundation, managing court cases for the purpose to win them and distribute compensation for the liquidation of Yukos, pretty quickly replicated the news about the 'victory over Russia' and about forthcoming payment to the Yukos confidence trickster 5 billion US dollars. 'This news' came through news portals. Mass media took it up and carried it further. It was loud and dramatic but turned out to be zilch. First, the question is not about 5 billion US dollars, but about 2.6 billion US dollars. Second, it was only a decision of the first instance, which, as the Office of the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation already said, Russia would appeal. So, if justice is fully implemented, this affiliate of Yukos has no chance to obtain the desired billions.
(See details in the article ‘Cunning rascals of the YUKOS' 'laundry room' temporarily rewarded with 2.6 billion dollars’, The company Yukos Capital S.a.r.l. was specially created in 2003 to launder pecuniary assets stolen during the disposal of the stolen oil).
Yet the final rejection of the Khodorkovskaya's claim by the U.S. Court of Appeal, the session of which took place the same day, the liberal media preferred not to mention. 'Strange, isn't it?' remarks the website Prigovor.ru.
By the way – the claim of Inna Khodorkovskaya concerning this case is publicly available on the internet-portal https://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/cadc/20-7018.
The decision of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Khodorkovsky's claim: :https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cadc/20-7018/20-7018-2021-07-23.html
On June 23, in the Court of Appeal of Washington, District Columbia, the case was considered Khodorkovskaya vs. Jacquelyn G. Gay and Kenneth K. Lin. In her stated claims, Khodorkovskaya accused the authors of the theatrical production 'Kleptocracy' suggesting that they had depicted her 'as prostitute and murderer', and demanded compensation to the extent of 75 000 US dollars.
This court history started on March 23, 1019, with the filing of the claim in the Court of Washington, District Columbia, by Inna Khodorkovskaya, resident of London, to the theater director Jacquelyn Gay and to play-write Kenneth Lin, known, in particular, as the author of the serial 'House of Cards'.
Depiction of Ms. Khodorkovskaya as prostitute and murderer, and Mr. Khodorkovsky as corrupt soul-murderer
The website 'Progovor.ru' proposes to its readers to get acquainted with the complaint of Inna Khodorkovskaya, the main part of which is a crashing version, according to which the defendants are no others than Kremlin's agents. According to the 'insulted' claimant, the creator of the piece are the very 'Kremlin's hand' that has reached an American theater and belied the well-meaning Khodorkovsky's couple. The claimant, apparently, has not even understood the gist of the play, in which, according to the authors' conception, president Putin, sure enough, is depicted as the main negative character.
Already the beginning of the complaint doesn't look like a judicial document, but more like a leading article of the Washington Post, the newspaper, which the immigrants themselves, shocked by its somersaults, have dubbed 'Pravda on Potomac'.
'The claimant Inna Khodorkovskaya (Ms. Khodorkovskaya), acting through the undersigned counsel, presents plaint against the defendants – Jacquelyn Gay and Kenneth Lin.
'Since at least 2003, the Russian government (and its President) have engaged in an organized disinformation campaign targeted Ms. Khodorkovskaya's husband, Mikhail Khodorkovsky in order to destroy his reputation and eliminate him as a political opponent, to undermine democracy and human rights in the Russian Federation, and protect the President of Russia Vladimir Putin's corrupt regime.
'The Defendants' depiction of Ms. Khodorkovskaya as a prostitute and a murderer, and Mr. Khodorkovsky as corrupt and murderer in 'Kleptocracy' are not only false but also part of this long-standing disinformation campaign orchestrated by Kremlin. This campaign and the involvement of the Defendants in it are explained in greater detail thereunder.’
So, like this. There are no dull references to laws, no extracts from the play. Instead, a lot of things about authoritarianism and democracy. What are the facts for, when the 'victim of the regime' protects itself? And now, let's consider the most vivid paragraphs of the claim of the spouse of the fugitive oligarch.
Paragraph 4. 'The Defendants, Jacquelyn G. Gay and Kenneth K. Lin have become an integral part of the efforts of the Russian government to malign Mr. Khodorkovskii. In furtherance of the Kremlin's scheme to falsely discredit Mr. Khodorkovskii, Defendants have written and produced a highly inaccurate and offensive play that sacrifices the truth to support the Kremlin's agenda'
Paragraph 5. 'Not content with falsely maligning Mr. Khodorkovskii, the Defendants take aim at his wife, Inna Khodorkovskaya, by falsely portraying her as a prostitute and a murderer.
Paragraph 46. 'There is no doubt that 'these actions were taken in order to support the Russian government's actions to discredit Mr. Khodorkovsky and weaken his efforts to bring democracy and human rights to Russia and to eliminate corruption within the government'.
Paragraphs 47 – 52. 'The Play was directed by Defendant Jacquelyn G. Gay who used her creative skills to portray Ms. Khodorkovskaya in a false light by portraying her as a prostitute and a murderer. Specifically, the play begins with a scene portraying Ms. Khodorkovskaya as a prostitute…Specifically, the play portrays Mr. Petukhov (the mayor of Nefteyugansk) being shot in the head… As the murder takes place, Mr. Khodorkovskii and Ms. Khodorkovskaya are portrayed as being nearby. Mr. Khodorkovskii is portrayed as being in close proximity. Mr. Khodorkovskii is portrayed as being covered with Mr. Petukhov's blood and is exorcising his purported guilt with a Pontius Pilate-like washing of his hands.'
As is clear from the above-cited extracts, Ms. Khodorkovskaya has claims not only to the authors of the play – this complaint is literally permeated with the inflated self-esteem: the notorious 'Kremlin's hand' is so long that it even orders theater plays to ridicule the Khodorkovskiis. And, at that, not in MKHAT Theater at Kamergerskyi Lane, but in America!
But we are more intrigued by the word 'lie' which Ms. Khodorkovskaya so often uses in her claim. Perhaps, the reason is that she herself lied in court and mislead it. In particular, in her Paragraph 56, she asserts:
'In fact, neither Mr. Khodorkovskii nor Ms. Khodorkovskaya had any involvement in the murder of Mr. Petukhov, have never been charged with that murder and have never been connected to it by anyone unassociated with the Kremlin/Putin propaganda.'
But, a versed reader has no difficulty in ascertaining that the claimant, to put it mildly, plays cunning: there have been accusations and judicial decisions. It's worth reminding that, as early as December 11, 2015, The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation passed a resolution on bringing to responsibility the former head of YUKOS Mikhail Khodorkovskyi as a defendant in a criminal proceeding pertaining to the murder of the mayor of Nefteyugansk Vladimir Petukhov, and on December 23, it arrested him in absentia and issued an international arrest warrant.
'Having studied the motion of the Investigation Department of the priority cases of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the Court in absentia chose a measure of restraint in the form of confinement under guard. Previously, a court ruling was adopted to bring him to court and accuse him of committing crimes under Article 33, paragraph 3, subparagraph 'а, б, е, ж, з', Article 105, paragraph 2 and Article 30, paragraph 3, Article 33, paragraph 3, subparagraphs 'а, б, е, ж, з', Article 105, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder of two or more persons and attempted murder of two and more persons).
According to the investigation, Khodorkovskyi, being stockholder and president of the board of the oil company Yukos, in 1998 – 1999 ordered to his subordinated employees Nevzlin and Pichugin, as well as to other persons, to kill the mayor of Nefteyugansk Petukhov and entrepreneur Rybin, the official activities of which contradicted the interests of the oil company Yukos. It is completely evident to the investigation that these crimes has been carried out due to lucrative impulses. The decision to kill Petukhov was taken in connection with his lawful demands as mayor at the oil company Yukos to pay all taxes hidden from the state. The attempted murder of the entrepreneur Rybin was connected with the claims initiated by him to get cost recovery for the damage inflicted by the illegal activities of this oil company.'
Perhaps, this couple didn't know that the head of the family 'unexpectedly' had been already on the wanted list. Once more, negative. Mikhail Khodorkovsky unequivocally knew that he was accused of organizing the murder of Petukhov, mayor of Nefteyugansk. Besides, he cynically reacted to the subpoena serviced to him with regard to this case and paste the following post on Twitter: 'Bleak attempt to change the subject-matter'.
The specter of the mayor of Nefteyugansk Petukhov comes to Khodorkovsky every night
On January 18, 2019, the play 'Kleptocracy' premiered at the Arena Stage Theater in Washington, District Columbia. This play is based on the events which happened in Russia at the end of XX – beginning of the XXI century. The play begins with the scene showing how young Mikhail Khodorkovsky sells vouchers. At the same time, he gets acquainted and have relations with Inna, his future wife. Then the spectators view him at the moment when he is already the owner of the oil company Yukos. The mayor of the town Nefteyugansk Petukhov crosses his way. In one of the scenes, Nevzlin and Inna instigate Khodorkovskyi to kill Petukhov. Khodorkovskyi agrees, and Petukhov is murdered. At one moment, the spectators can see on Khodorkovsky the blood of Petukhov murdered by him.
The hero of the play with the family name Khodorkovskyi is taken to prison where he passes his time while reading letters of the murdered, and at this moment the specter of the murdered mayor comes to him. Then his wife visits him and reasons him to break out from the prison and from Russia, and after long meditations, he agrees.
It ought to be noted that this play has not received an elicit response from American viewers. Critics, of course, didn't miss it, and reviews were published. In particular, they came to the same conclusion that the play described painful, contradictory events, happened in Russia just after the collapse of the Soviet Union, But the lack of enthusiasm they connect to the fact that it is not for the broad audience as it presupposes deep knowledge of the socio-political processes in the Post-Soviet Russia.
In particular, columnist Peter Marks in his article in the Washington Post on January 28, 2019 writes:
'The play 'Kleptoicracy', staged with phlegmatic seriousness by Jacquelyn G. Gay, doesn't capture you unless you really want to know about the metamorphosis of the post-soviet, post-perestroika Russia, as well as about how the movement to more political and economic freedom can lead to the arrival of the class of baron-robbers'.
By the way, the newspaper The Guardian on January 10, 2019, that is, a week before the premiere, published a review of this play which included an interview with Kenneth Lin, the author of this play.
'This is also Khodorkovsky's play. He was the richest and arguably most ruthless oligarch during the wild west capitalism that filled the Soviet vacuum', so the article goes.
Then the playwright argues that the problems, which are raised in this play, can also be of current interest for America. 'When does capitalism turn into kleptocracy? When does democracy fall prey to manipulation? What is our greater impact on the world stage? I feel like a lot of those themes that we struggle with as Americans are the same that Russians are struggling with'.
It's important to note that representatives of the American theatrical scene understood the importance of the events described in this play as well as the fact that for Russia those terrible years were the time of desperate struggle of the new class of the rich and the state. The state, which Vladimir Putin began to symbolize. Here is what said, for instance, the art-director of the Arena Stage Theatre Molly Smith before the premiere:
'Kleptocracy is the most dangerous play at Arena Stage this season. Dangerous because playwright Kenneth Lin has taken us right into the heart of greed, manipulation, and the rise of the wealthy and Putin in Russia in the 1990s and 2000s, reminding us of where we are now. It is a fascinating prism through which to look at our own relationship with Russia in the United States now.’
The complaint of Inna Khodorkovskaya which for some reason looked at the character of the play – 'prostitute and murderer' – as in a mirror, and has also become a review sui generis of the play.
Probably, Inna Khodorkovskaya recognized herself in this play and at once perceived this character as a personal insult. A humorous situation was created. The authors of the play referred to the materials of the Western press which till 2003, that is till the arrests, presented Khodorkovsky as a typical representative of the Russian oligarchy of the 1990s (he was, certainly, such a representative).
Extract from the Ruling of the United States Court of Appeal of the District of Columbia with regard to the claim of Khodorkovskaya from 23.07.2021. In their decision, the Judges recalled Lady Macbeth instigating her husband to kill King Duncan:
'Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill King Duncan. (Indeed, like Lady Macbeth, Inna later helps Mikhail figure out to handle the fallout from committing murder). Of course, a reasonable viewer need not recognize the parallels between Inna and Lady Macbeth. But the viewer can readily see Inna's influence over Mikhail in this scene as a dramatic device in a concededly fictional play, rather than as, somehow, an expression of actual facts about the real-life Inna amidst various self-evidently counterfactual elements', the Decision says.
On the whole, a picture takes shape – Lady Macbeth of the London District.
But western journalists from 2003 as by command started to write about 'Putin's victims’ – about saint Mikhail and Inna which loves him – only good things, but the playwrights with their historical truth… In the end, Khodorkovskaya ganged up not against journalists, but against the playwrights. It means that Gogol was right, and artistic sincerity sometimes turns out stronger than a direct statement.
The resume of this play, published on the website of this theater, didn't help the authors of the play to protect themselves from the anger of the wife of the ex-oligarch: 'Fictional play inspired by historic events.'
Although, as a trigger to making the claim, served, probably, the preview in the same place – on the website of the Theater:
'It is one of the most pivotal moments in history – the Soviet Union has collapsed. In the ensuing rampage of hyper-capitalism, the Oligarchs, a new class of robber-barons, plunge Russia into a terrifying dark age of chaos and corruption. When the richest and the most ruthless Oligarch attempts to reform and open Russian markets to the world, he's confronted with a young Vladimir Putin who is charting his own path to power. This world-premiere drama by Kenneth Lin (House of Cards) turns the spotlight on the U.S. – Russia relations when crude oil is the language of diplomacy and events that dominate today's headlines are first set in motion.'
You must admit that it sounds a bit naïve, with its dramatizing and simplifications, but this is theatre. Strange people, these fighters against the 'bloody regime'. For themselves, they demand from the state full freedom of speech, and they are not ready to allow the state to regulate anything. But, to extend this freedom on others – be that even 'critics of Putin' – these gentlemen, these Russian ultra-liberals, do not want. As soon as they hear somebody's opinion which doesn't correspond with their own, they instantly appeal to allegedly 'small and compact' (in their mottos), state, and hysterically demand that this very almighty and totalitarian state immediately turn on its repressive machine and punish these cheeky fellows daring to dissent.
That is how the Khdorkovskyi couple understands freedom of the creative work.
Selective understanding of freedom of speech
It is amusing how Western 'beacons of freedom' have reacted to this event. 'Radio Free Europe – (RFE is a foreign agent) – posted a photos of Khodorkovskyi's wife, daughter, and mother made in 2010 - with sour, mournful faces corresponding to the term of incarceration of the patron (Evidently, other pictures were not made then, and new were not found in the photo-archives of RFE). By the way, editors even didn't think how ironical it looked with the heading 'U.S. Judge Throws Out Libel Lawsuit By Khodorkovsky's Wife Over D.C. Play'.
Apropos, we remind our readers that, on July 23, a sitting took place of the Court in Switzerland, part of The International Court of Appeal in The Hague, to examine the claim of one of the ex-affiliate of Yukos – Yukos Capital S.A.R.L. to the Russian Federation. The Dutch Yukos Foundation, managing court cases for the purpose to win them and distribute compensation for the liquidation of Yukos, pretty quickly replicated the news about the 'victory over Russia' and about forthcoming payment to the Yukos confidence trickster 5 billion US dollars. 'This news' came through news portals. Mass media took it up and carried it further. It was loud and dramatic but turned out to be zilch. First, the question is not about 5 billion US dollars, but about 2.6 billion US dollars. Second, it was only a decision of the first instance, which, as the Office of the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation already said, Russia would appeal. So, if justice is fully implemented, this affiliate of Yukos has no chance to obtain the desired billions.
(See details in the article ‘Cunning rascals of the YUKOS' 'laundry room' temporarily rewarded with 2.6 billion dollars’, The company Yukos Capital S.a.r.l. was specially created in 2003 to launder pecuniary assets stolen during the disposal of the stolen oil).
Yet the final rejection of the Khodorkovskaya's claim by the U.S. Court of Appeal, the session of which took place the same day, the liberal media preferred not to mention. 'Strange, isn't it?' remarks the website Prigovor.ru.
By the way – the claim of Inna Khodorkovskaya concerning this case is publicly available on the internet-portal https://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/cadc/20-7018.
The decision of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Khodorkovsky's claim: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cadc/20-7018/20-7018-2021-07-23.html
