I do not like people who see political content in any statement. I look at this issue from a purely human point of view. I would have said the same thing if sanction were imposed not on Ilyumzhinov but Kasparov. There is the principle of the presumption of innocence, which is the cornerstone of the legal and democratic systems. I can see the violation of this principle in recent times and it makes me very worried.

If someone is blamed for something, the accusations should be well-grounded otherwise nobody should be blamed. These are the basics. And it doesn’t matter what ideology adheres a man to or what kind of passport he has. In case of Ilyumzhinov I have not seen the well-grounded charges, which is illogical and absurd.

- Did Kasparov’s answer convince you?

- The Kasparov’s answer could hardly be called as such. He drugged everybody through the mud. However, it is not very dignified to stoop to the level of the personal abuses and domestic rudeness. The transition to the degree of ‘you swallow!’ in discussion is not my genre.

- Are you ready to have the open debate with him?

- I'm ready but Kasparov often deviates from topic. He starts to drag in the ideology, Putin and the KGB... In other words, some nonsense that has no relation either to me or to the subject of the discussion. I did not understand anything from his reply. That was some kind of a verbal torrent, which is typical of Garry Klimovich.
He keeps saying the same thing over for 10 years; you can copy-paste it. Although, he could have found a better employment for himself. It is strange that some people are interested to listen to him. I am not. I don’t read Kasparov’s interviews; they are all the same: a lot of negative grumbling amounting to 90 per cent of what has been said.
I am absolutely not affected by all this but it makes me a little sad. I think it is better to keep the higher standard of the public debates.