Open Russia

{{see also|Yukos}}

This first incarnation of Open Russia has been described by The Guardian as a charitable organization.{{cite web | title =Mikhail Khodorkovsky breaks political silence, saying he would lead Russia | work =The Guardian| date =Sep 20, 2014| url =https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/21/mikhail-khodorkovsky-breaks-political-silence-prepared-lead-russia |access-date=1 September 2024}} Its board included Henry Kissinger and Lord Jacob Rothschild.{{cite web| last =Rossiter| first =James| title =Rothschild lined to take over at Yukos| work =Evening Standard| date =Jul 15, 2003| url =https://www.standard.co.uk/news/rothschild-lined-to-take-over-at-yukos-6971290.html}}{{cite web| last =Applebaum| first =Anne| title =This man is now the people's billionaire| work =The Daily Telegraph| date =Jun 13, 2004| url =https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3607189/This-man-is-now-the-peoples-billionaire.html}} According to the Moscow Times, the earlier incarnation of Open Russia funded “many philanthropic projects, including educational projects for young people, the Federation of Internet Education, the Club of Regional Journalism and projects of human rights NGOs.”{{cite web| last =Davidoff| first =Victor| title =How Khodorkovsky's Arrest Ruined Russia| work =The Moscow Times| date =Oct 28, 2013| url =http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/how-khodorkovsky-s-arrest-ruined-russia/488556.html}}

After Khodorkovsky's arrest in 2003, his deputy Leonid Nevzlin took over Open Russia. He was succeeded by Nikolay Bychkov.{{cite web| title =Khodorkovsky's Open Russia Foundation Probed for Hidden Taxes| work =Kommersant| date =Feb 25, 2005| url =http://www.kommersant.com/p550169/r_500/Khodorkovsky| access-date =November 30, 2014| archive-date =March 4, 2016| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055651/http://www.kommersant.com/p550169/r_500/Khodorkovsky| url-status =dead}}

By 2005, Open Russia had 23 regional affiliates. On February 24, 2005, Russia's Federal Tax Service initiated an inspection of Open Russia, its third such probe in 12 months, which in the opinion of Open Russia was meant "to sully the only structure left in the hands of Mikhail Khodorkovsky.” The first incarnation of Open Russia closed in 2006 when Russian authorities froze its bank accounts.

Open Russia was re-launched on September 20, 2014, as “a nationwide community platform designed to bring together all Russians interested in creating a better life for themselves and their children” during videoconference supporting marches against Putin's policies, with nearly all of the regional locations experiencing Internet connection problems just moments before the conference, sabotage and storming the halls"{{cite web| last =Kara-Murza| first =Vladimir| title =50,000 March in Moscow Against Putin's War| work =World Affairs Journal| date =Sep 26, 2014| url =http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/vladimir-kara-murza/50000-march-moscow-against-putins-war| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140926231905/http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/vladimir-kara-murza/50000-march-moscow-against-putins-war| url-status =usurped| archive-date =September 26, 2014}}

The online relaunch ceremony was attended by prominent Russian activists and émigrés, including Sergei Guriyev and Yevgeny Chichvarkin.

The Guardian reported that Khodorkovky's relaunch of Open Russia “appears to break his promise to steer clear of politics, which he made after being pardoned by president Vladimir Putin in December.” The New York Times stated, however, that Khodorkovsky had in fact “agreed to stay out of politics until August, when he would have been released anyway. Now freed from that commitment, he is making clear that prison has, if anything, emboldened him in his desire to change his country.”{{cite web| last =Baker| first =Peter| title =Russian Dissident Opens New Chapter in His Anti-Putin Movement| work =The New York Times| date =Oct 2, 2014| url =https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/world/europe/mikhail-khodorkovsky-ex-oil-tycoon-plans-to-lead-political-movement.html?_r=0}}

The new Open Russia declared that it would focus on several key areas including independent media, political education, the rule of law, and support for political prisoners. Also featured is an extensive Reforms Program aimed at reforming law enforcement and the Constitution to ensure justice and democracy. In addition, Open Russia endorses free and fair elections, and, while staying out of direct political involvement, will lend support to candidates who also promote fair elections.{{cite web| last =Whalen| first =Jeanne| title =Putin Foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky Aims to Remake Russia| work =The Wall Street Journal| date =Oct 3, 2014| url =https://online.wsj.com/articles/putin-foe-mikhail-khodorkovsky-aims-to-remake-russia-1412383620}}

Interviewed in an October 2014 article in the Wall Street Journal, Khodorkovsky said he planned to use Open Russia to push for a constitutional conference that would shift power away from the presidency and toward the legislature and judiciary. This stems, from Khodorkovsky's opinion, from the root cause of Russia's problems - namely the absence of the rule of law.{{cite web| title =Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Open Russia and Building Civil Society| work =Center on Foreign Relations| url =http://www.cfr.org/russian-federation/mikhail-khodorkovsky-open-russia-building-civil-society/p33555| access-date =2016-01-25| archive-date =2014-10-18| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20141018092732/http://www.cfr.org/russian-federation/mikhail-khodorkovsky-open-russia-building-civil-society/p33555| url-status =dead}}

On September 13–14, 2014, Open Russia presented talks by Lyudmila Ulytskaya, Arina Borodina, and Dmitry Olshansky. The foundation's Open Lecture projected a series of live talks that toured across Russia. To date there have been seven online forums hosted by Open Russia on topics ranging from healthcare reform to combating corruption.{{cite web| title =OPEN RUSSIA ONLINE FORUMS| work =Khodorkovsky| date =Feb 12, 2015| url =https://khodorkovsky.com/open-russia-online-forums/ |access-date=1 September 2024}}{{cite web| title =Open Russia Announces Second Online Forum| work =Khodorkovsky| date =Oct 22, 2014| url =http://www.khodorkovsky.com/open-russia-announces-second-online-forum/ |access-date=1 September 2024}}

Open Russia reported that it will support twenty-five candidates in the upcoming September parliamentary elections. Although it has yet to choose the candidates it will support, the organization has stated it already has two candidates from the Parnas party it is considering.{{cite web | url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/khodorkovsky-to-support-russian-opposition-candidates/556548.html | title=Khodorkovsky to Support Russian Opposition Candidates | work=The Moscow Times | date=Jan 22, 2016 |access-date=1 September 2024}}

Open Russia, along with other dissident groups, was the target of an intensified crackdown by the Russian government in the 2010s. In mid-2017, the Prosecutor General of Russia designated Open Russia as "undesirable" under the 2015 Russian undesirable organizations law, effectively banning its activities in Russia.{{citation |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/04/russian-authorities-ban-khodorkovskys-organization-open-russia-as-undesirable | title=Russian authorities ban Khodorkovsky's organization Open Russia as 'undesirable'| date = 26 Apr 2017 |work=Amnesty.org |access-date=1 September 2024}} Amnesty International noted that, while previous civil society groups had been targeted by the law, the designation of Open Russia marked the first time that the Russian government banned "a civil society group that was founded by Russians and operates only in Russia."

The group is the target of Internet censorship by the Russian authorities: in December 2017, Roskomnadzor added Open Russia's website to its registry of blocked sites.{{citation |url=https://themoscowtimes.com/news/russia-bans-khodorkovskys-open-russia-website-59906 |title=Russia Blocks Khodorkovsky's Open Russia Website |date=12 Dec 2017 |work = The Moscow Times }}

Ahead of the parliamentary elections in September 2021, the Russian government increased its pressure against opposition voices, where a draft law was being processed that increased the criminal liability of participants of undesirable organisations and enables them to be jailed. Based on this, Open Russia announced on 27 May 2021 that it would stop its operations in Russia in order to protect its members from criminal prosecution and the risk of being imprisoned in the country.{{citation| url=https://www.reuters.com/world/anti-kremlin-group-open-russia-says-it-will-end-activities-russia-2021-05-27/| title=Anti-Kremlin group Open Russia closes due to crackdown| date=27 May 2021| work=Reuters |access-date=1 September 2024}}

In July 2022, a former head of the organisation, Andrey Pivovarov, was sentenced to four years in prison for "carrying out the activities of an undesirable organization", alleging he was still working with the organization based in London, after he made Facebook posts allegedly criticizing the Federal Security Service and supporting opposition protesters.{{cite web |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/07/15/kremlin-critic-pivovarov-sentenced-to-4-years-in-prison-for-undesirable-activity-a78313 |title=Kremlin Critic Pivovarov Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for 'Undesirable' Activity |website=The Moscow Times |date=15 July 2022}}

The forums have attracted the attention of law enforcement who, at times, have cut off internet service for particular speakers.

The Guardian noted that in September 2014 “Russian state media appeared to enforce a blackout on news coverage of Khodorkovky’s project.” According to Khodorkovky's spokeswoman Olga Pispanen, the project's website was targeted by distributed denial of service attacks. Also, some activists were reportedly prevented from joining the ceremony in Nizhny Novgorod and Yaroslavl.

The first forum featured by Open Russia, on September 20, 2014, had over 70,000 viewers.

Political analyst {{ill|Mark Urnov|ru|Урнов, Марк Юрьевич}} called Open Russia a “sorely needed” project that represented an “antidote” to the current realities of Russian life.

The New York Times noted that when Khodorkovky made his first U.S. appearance since his release from prison, he was praised for his resolve. The Times continued their praise, noting "notion of prison as cleansing the soul and ennobling the spirit is a powerful motif in Russian literature", citing Dostoyevsky and Solzhenitsyn.

In April 2015, security officers raided Open Russia's Moscow office.{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/world/europe/putin-takes-questions-more-economy-less-ukraine.html?_r=0 | title=Putin Takes Questions: More Economy, Less Ukraine | work=The New York Times | date=Apr 16, 2015 | author=MacFarquhar, Neil |access-date=1 September 2024}} In May 2015 the Russian Justice Ministry requested the Prosecutor General to launch a probe into Open Russia's activities. The Justice Ministry has demanded Open Russia label itself a "foreign agent".{{cite web | url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russian-authorities-call-for-probe-of-khodorkovsky-s-pro-democracy-organization/520711.html | title=Russian Authorities Call for Probe of Khodorkovsky's Pro-Democracy Organization | work=The Moscow Times | access-date=May 13, 2015}}

In August 2015, however, a Moscow court ordered investigators to return confiscated documents and ordered a retrial.{{cite web | url=http://www.rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20150803/274340787.html | title=Moscow court orders retrial on Open Russia office search | work=RAPSI | date=Aug 3, 2015 |access-date=1 September 2024}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Russian political movements}}

{{Privatization in Russia}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Open Russia}}

Category:2001 establishments in Russia

Category:Human rights organizations based in Russia

Category:Mass media in Russia

Category:Opposition to Vladimir Putin

Category:Organizations established in 2001

Category:Political organizations based in Russia

Category:Russian democracy movements

Category:Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Category:Organizations listed in Russia as undesirable