[Richard]

Power politics in the former USSR and shades of pre-antitrust America circa late 19th and early 20th Century America.

How does one say "The Kingfisher" in Russian?

And so it goes...

Richard

Moscow Court Finds Khodorkovsky Guilty
Der Spiegel, 27 Dec 2010

As trial verdicts go, it did not come as much of a surprise: Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been found guilty.

Russian news agencies reported Monday that a Moscow judge had found the former oil tycoon and his business partner Platon Lebedev guilty of theft and money laundering. Their sentences are not yet known as the verdict is still being read out, which is expected to take several days. The journalists present were ejected from the court after the guilty verdict was announced, without the judge giving a reason.

Khodorkovsky was charged with stealing the entire oil production of his firm Yukos between 1998 and 2003 and laundering the revenues. The charges have been criticized as absurd, with even government ministers calling the accusations illogical.

It is Khodorkovsky's second trial. He is already serving an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion, and was due to be released in October 2011. The new verdict means he may remain in prison until 2017.

'A Test of the Rule of Law'

The German government's commissioner for human rights, Markus Löning, told the German news agency DPA that he was "deeply angered" about the guilty verdict, calling it "an example of political abuse of the justice system." "The verdict does not cast the conditions in Russia in a good light," he said.

Ulrich Brandenburg, Germany's ambassador to Russia, told the Interfax news agency on Saturday that the trial was "considered a test of the rule of law in Russia."

Police detained 20 protesters outside the Moscow courthouse on Monday, according to Interfax. Hundred of demonstrators had gathered to hear the verdict.

Observers claim that both cases were politically motivated. They suspect that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who as president had Khodorkovsky put on trial in 2003, wants to keep the former oligarch locked up until after Russian presidential elections in 2012, where Putin may run for Russia's top job again. In a recent television interview, Putin described Khodorkovsky as a "thief" who deserved to remain in prison.

In the 1990s, Khodorkovsky was the embodiment of Russia's new predatory oligarchs. He went on to turn the run-down state corporation Yukos into Russia's most modern oil company and also financed opposition parties. Since his arrest and imprisonment, he has become a symbol of the abuse of the rule of law in Russia.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...736659,00.html

What Rule of Law?
NYT, 28 Dec 2010

President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia claims to champion the rule of law. He also claims that he, not Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, calls the shots in Moscow. Mr. Medvedev can prove both true by using his pardon power to ensure that Mikhail Khodorkovsky faces no additional prison time after being convicted on trumped-up embezzlement charges this week. Mr. Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, has already served seven years as a result of Mr. Putin’s judicial vendetta against him.

Unfortunately, everything about Mr. Khodorkovsky’s latest prosecution suggests that Russia’s judiciary is still under Mr. Putin’s thumb and Mr. Medvedev’s talk of reform is just talk. Mr. Putin did not even wait for the trial to conclude before pronouncing Mr. Khodorkovsky guilty and demanding a lengthy new sentence.

Mr. Khodorkovsky is no paragon of virtue. He made his fortune through political connections and suspect deals in the early days of Russian capitalism. Later though, as the leader of the private oil conglomerate Yukos, he began to understand that transparency was good for business. He also became an advocate of political reform — and a bankroller of reform causes and candidates — thereby drawing Mr. Putin’s enmity.

Mr. Khodorkovsky’s early days as a robber baron may have left him legally vulnerable. But his 2005 conviction for tax fraud reeked of selective prosecution. Other oligarchs who steered clear of politics were not prosecuted. Then, as his sentence neared completion, the new charges were brought as a way of keeping him in jail and out of politics at least through the 2012 presidential election. Mr. Khodorkovsky plans to appeal.

After this week’s verdict, the White House rightly expressed strong concerns about “abusive use of the legal system” and warned that Russian hopes for better relations with the United States and more foreign investment could both suffer.

The same judge who found Mr. Khodorkovsky guilty will now decide whether to impose a second, potentially lengthy, sentence. He should ignore Mr. Putin and let Mr. Khodorkovsky go free. If the judge fails to do his duty, and the conviction is not overturned on appeal, President Medvedev must use his pardon power. Both justice and Mr. Medvedev’s credibility are on the line.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/op...ef=global-home