Quote:Russia hits back over oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Moscow warns US and Europe to 'mind their own business' as oil tycoon found guilty of theft and money laundering

Tom Parfitt in Moscow
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 28 December 2010 12.30 GMT


Mikhail Khodorkovsky stands in a Moscow court as a judge reads the verdict in his second trial. Photograph: Tatyana Makeyeva/REUTERS
Russia's government came out fighting today in response to international criticism over the jailing of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, warning the US and European countries to "mind their own business".

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, issued a statement on Monday saying the oligarch's conviction raised "serious questions about selective prosecution - and about the rule of law being overshadowed by political considerations."

But a foreign ministry spokesman in Moscow said: "Judgements about some kind of selective application of justice in Russia are without foundation." He added: "We are counting on everyone minding his own business both at home, and in the international arena."

Khodorkovsky, 47, and his business partner, Platon Lebedev, 54, were found guilty by a Moscow court yesterday of theft and money laundering, in a trial that critics say is revenge for the tycoon questioning a state monopoly on oil pipelines and propping up political parties that oppose the Kremlin.
Clinton's censure was echoed by politicians in Britain and Germany. Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, urged Moscow to "respect its international commitments in the field of human rights and the rule of law."

Viktor Danilkin, the trial judge, said the two men had been found guilty when he began reading his 250-page verdict yesterday. But their fate remains unclear because sentencing will not take place until he finishes the text, which could take several days.

The Russian foreign ministry spokesman hit back at criticism from abroad, saying that "in connection with statements from Washington and a series of European capitals, we would like to underline once more that this question is a matter for the judicial system of the Russian Federation. Attempts to place pressure on the court are unacceptable."

The trial related to "serious accusations of tax avoidance and laundering of criminally received income. In any country such deeds require criminal punishment. In the United States, by the way, life sentences are given for these acts."

Similar prosecutions were common, the spokesman claimed. "Thousands of cases regarding the responsibilities of entrepreneurs before the law are considered in Russian courts," he said.

The spokesman referred to comments by Dmitry Medvedev on Friday, saying Russia's president had "stressed that nobody has the right to interfere in the prerogatives of the judicial authorities."

Khodorkovsky and Lebedev have been in jail on earlier fraud and tax evasion charges since 2003. They are due for release next year but prosecutors in the current trial want them to stay in jail until 2017.

Several hundred protesters gathered around the trial court in Moscow's Khamovniki district yesterday shouting, "Shame!" and "Russia without Putin!" as proceedings got under way inside.

Danilkin resumed reading his verdict today as police closed streets around the court to traffic.

Asked about Khodorkvosky's second trial earlier this month, Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, replied: "A thief should be in jail."

Khodorkovsky's backers condemned that as open pressure on the court, but Putin later claimed he was referring only to the businessman's first conviction.

In her comments yesterday, Clinton said the case had a "negative impact on Russia's reputation for fulfilling its international human rights obligations and improving its investment climate."

Quote:Blimey, Clinton's charges based on recent events is stupendously hypocritical.

Quote:West lashes Russia over Khodorkovsky sentence
Dmitry Zaks
December 31, 2010 - 9:04PM

Russia was lashed Friday by Western criticism of a court decision to keep Kremlin critic and ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky in jail until 2017 in a case watched as a barometer of the country's democratic progress.

The US State Department and the European Union led a chorus of international condemnation of the sentence delivered Thursday in the second trial of the Yukos oil company founder and his co-defendant Platon Lebedev.

A Moscow judge found the pair -- already in prison since 2003 on tax evasion charges -- guilty of money laundering and embezzlement and extended their jail stay for the six years sought by the prosecution.

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The case has been watched by Western governments and rights groups as a test of the country's commitment to the court independence and modernisation championed by President Dmitry Medvedev.

But disappointment echoed across international capitals following a decision that some officials said confirmed their worst fears about Russia.

Washington had been seeking to "reset" a relationship with Moscow that suffered several dark patches during the presidency of Medvedev's strongman predecessor Vladimir Putin.

But the State Department issued an unusually frank assessment of a trial which saw now-premier Putin declare on national television during the process that a "thief must be in prison".

"Simply put, the Russian government cannot nurture a modern economy without also developing an independent judiciary that serves as an instrument for furthering economic growth," said State Department spokesman Mark Toner.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- one of Europe's most regular visitors to Russia -- said she was "disappointed by the verdict against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his tough sentence."

And Germany's Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said the sentence "confirmed my worst fears" about Russia.

The European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said that "allegations" of irregularities in the court case "are a matter of serious concern and disappointment to us."

But Russia's most famous case since the Soviet era received far less attention in Moscow itself.

The government's official Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily mentioned the outcome in a brief article it placed at the bottom of page three while the only other paper to publish on New Year's Eve -- the Tvoi Den tabloid -- ran a few paragraphs on page four.

The state daily simply listed the charges against Khodorkovsky and inserted the headline: "Sentence Issued".

The brief mention ran a few inches bellow a large photograph of Khodorkovsky's arch-nemesis Putin smiling and toasting the New Year with a group of Russian reporters.

Putin's spokesman also refused to comment on the case Thursday evening as the government wrapped up its work ahead of a winter break festival that runs across the nation through January 10.

Khodorkovsky's supporters have accused the court of purposefully timing the trial so that it would end just as the country's was preparing to celebrates the country's most cherished holiday.

Russia goes on virtual shutdown for the first half of January as offices and stores close and news broadcasts are replaced with non-stop airings of beloved Soviet-era movies.

The sentencing was briefly reported on some of the late Thursday news broadcasts but had entirely vanished from state-controlled television by Friday morning.

Some Russian websites noted that state television appeared more concerned Thursday evening about the death in Saint Petersburg of Bobby Farrell, singer for the 1970s pop group Boney M.

Quote:Russia was lashed Friday by Western criticism of a court decision to keep Kremlin critic and ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky in jail until 2017 in a case watched as a barometer of the country's democratic progress.

Jan Klimkowski Wrote:My emphasis in bold:



The "oligarchs" looted and stole the resources of Russia from ordinary Russian people during the Chicago Boyz decade of invasion, rape and plunder.

If anyone deserves to spend the rest of their lives in a contempoary Gulag Archipelago it is Khodorkovsky and his oligarch mates.

This case is not a "barometer of (Russia's) democratic progress".

Rather it demonstrates that the oligarchs were always raping and looting Mother Russia on behalf of foreign interests.

Khodorkovsky? Let him rot.

Jan Klimkowski Wrote:Peter - again, I have little or no respect for capitalist philanthropists.

Philanthropy and charitable giving is primarily a tax dodge by the rich, and secondly enables them to bask in the adoration of their serfs, who are expected to be truly grateful.

Fuck the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation. Fuck the Soros Foundation. In fact, fuck pretty much every private foundation.

We also know that the supposed charitable actions of many foundations are often cover for deep political operations.

"Philanthropy" using wealth stolen from the masses is not, imo, a noble act.

Peter Lemkin Wrote:Jan, I'm NOT trying to make a 'defense' for him; but only point out he is being targeted for other reasons. For the 'reasons' presented a very large % of anyone above middle class in Russia should be with him in his cell.