The director of a documentary about Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky said at its premiere Monday at the Berlin film festival that the film-making process was "governed by fear", dpa reported.
"Nobody wanted to talk about Khodorkovsky. They all thought they would lose business connections. There was a big mistrust," said German director Cyril Tuschi. He said the attitude was symptomatic of Moscow as a whole.
"All the rich people fear that they will lose their money, all the powerful fear they will lose their power," Tuschi said. "I don't want to be governed by fear."
The 111-minute film features interviews with former business associates of Khodorkovsky, political figures and his immediate family, depicting a young socialist who rose to embody Russia's burgeoning post-Soviet capitalist system until he was imprisoned in 2003 for tax evasion.
At the premiere, the subject also turned to revelations by a Moscow court assistant earlier on Monday that a judge who sentenced the former oil tycoon in a second trial last December was ordered from above to impose a lengthy prison term.
"The woman who made the statement today is a hero," said Irina Yasina, an economist who worked on the board of Open Russia, a civil society organization founded by Khodorkovsky.
Khodorkovsky, who was nearing the end his previous term, was sentenced in December to 13 and a half years for stealing oil and laundering the proceeds.
Critics have alleged that the trial was politically motivated and an attempt to sideline the former head of the now-defunct Yukos oil giant prior to presidential elections due in 2012.
In a society dominated by fear, Yasina said the courage of Khodorkovsky's resistance paved the way for others.
"The example of Mikhail (Khodorkovsky) is what our country needs," she said.
Khodorkovsky's former wife Elena said it was difficult to know what the future held for the former oil tycoon, after the outcome of his second trial was worse than they had expected.
"Like all families we would like to hope for positive things," Elena Khodorkovskaya said. However, she expected little to change before next year's presidential election.
"After that, we hope something will change," she added.
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