Facebook on Tuesday restored the account of jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and apologized for the temporary suspension, which it said was done by mistake.
The social networking site's administrators suspended the profile, located at Facebook.com/m.khodorkovsky, on Saturday “without any warning and giving no explanation,” supporters of Khodorkovsky said in a statement on Khodorkovsky.ru.
The account was run by Khodorkovsky's press service, which was authorized to handle it by the former Yukos owner, Kommersant reported. Khodorkovsky, once the country's wealthiest person, is serving an eight-year sentence on tax evasion charges and faces a verdict in a second trial in December.
Khodorkovsky's press service also created another Facebook page for the businessman, Facebook.com/mikhailkhodorkovsky, shortly before the ban. That account has faced no sanctions so far.
Facebook later asked the account's administrator to provide documents confirming Khodorkovsky's identity.
The businessman's passport was confiscated by prison officials when he was first detained in 2003. Khodorkovsky's family found his military service card and sent a scan to Facebook, but the network's administration replied that the document was not enough, the press service said.
Nevertheless, the original page was unblocked Tuesday.
“Having looked into your situation, we found out that your account was blocked by mistake,” Facebook said in an e-mailed statement to Khodorkovsky.ru early Tuesday. It did not elaborate.
Khodorkovky's Facebook account was opened in April 2009, ahead of the second trial against Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev on related charges. The page, which provides news on the trial, has 5,000 friends — the maximum allowed by Facebook.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
