October marked the six-year anniversary of Mikhail Khodorkovsky's incarceration alongside friend and business partner Platon Lebedev. Following their politically-motivated arrests in 2003, they were charged and convicted of fraud and tax evasion. On appeal, their nine year sentences were reduced to eight years and they were sent to separate penal colonies in Siberia. When Khodorkovsky and Lebedev became eligible for parole in 2007, those in power who still perceive them as a threat sought new grounds to keep them incarcerated for a long time to come. A second trial on fresh charges against the men opened in March 2009 in Moscow and is expected to run until the spring of 2010. The proceedings are based on absurdly implausible charges of embezzlement and money laundering connected to the Yukos Oil Company, the assets of which now belong mostly to state-controlled Rosneft. The new Khodorkovsky-Lebedev trial is seen as a test of the legal and judicial reforms announced by President Dmitry Medvedev at the beginning of his presidency.
During the first six months of the trial, the prosecution presented reams of Yukos-related documentation, yet failed to explain any logical connection between the data they compiled and the charges against the defendants. No proof of embezzlement or money laundering has been established by any evidence presented to date. The court is now hearing a range of prosecution witnesses. The testimonies being presented so far have lacked credibility and probative value, or have in fact bolstered arguments made by the defense. Instead of facts and hard evidence, witnesses have for the most part only been able to proffer opinions, assumptions and suppositions which do little more than expose the political influences behind the trial.
On September 30, 2009, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passed Resolution 1685 (2009), based on the June 2009 PACE report on politically-motivated abuses of the criminal justice system in Council of Europe member states. The resolution cites "a number of high-profile cases, such as the second trial of M. Khodorkovsky and P. Lebedev...[that] give rise to concerns that the fight against 'legal nihilism' launched by President [Medvedev] is still far from won." The resolution was passed with 74 votes in favor, none opposed and four abstentions. Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a former German minister of justice who will again serve in that post in Chancellor Angela Merkel's new government, was the rapporteur leading the research and writing for the report, which highlighted the Yukos affair as "emblematic" of the risks faced by investors who come up against state authorities in Russia. The report describes the new charges against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev as "bizarre" and "contradictory," and asserts that Russian authorities are waging an "unrelenting campaign" against Yukos and its executives. The report also describes many of the inconsistencies in the prosecutors' arguments as "perplexing".
President Medvedev's modernization manifesto, "Go Russia!" published in September, cited corruption and paternalistic attitudes among the main hindrances to progress in Russia. The president made a call for engagement by political and business leaders and members of the public, promising to integrate their suggestions into his upcoming state-of-the-nation address. An important voice in Russian politics and business, Khodorkovsky responded with his comments published in Vedomosti and New Times, challenging President Medvedev's recent proclamations regarding modernization and reform.
Khodorkovsky believes that Russia's future will depend in large part upon the cultivation of a fully-fledged reformist class of citizens - an entire social stratum campaigning for the country's modernization and an effective civil society with working institutions of a democratic state. To promote this vision, Khodorkovsky has supported the Podmoskovny Lyceum in Koralovo, outside Moscow, which provides education to children who lost their parents as a result of terrorist activities, natural disasters and service in the Russian military. The Lyceum celebrated its 15th anniversary in October, bringing together friends and relatives of Khodorkovsky in honor of its students.
If President Medvedev is serious about instituting reforms to ensure Russia no longer lags behind developed countries, the treatment of Khodorkovsky remains a key indicator watched by Western political leaders measuring the president's progress and prospects. On the eve of Italian President Silvio Berlusconi's October visit to Moscow, Pier Ferdinando Casini of Italy's Christian Democrats Party addressed a letter to the Italian President urging "the Government to activate all diplomatic channels in order to ensure the respect for human rights and the right to defense of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev and of all Russian citizens in general". Casini previously convinced the International Christian Democrat Party to vote unanimously in favor of a motion that asked President Medvedev to assure a just and fair trial for Khodorkovsky.
On October 23, Russian Liberals met to call for President Medvedev to free Khodorkovsky, criticizing the president for a lack of progress in the case during his mandate. Seven prominent activists including Lyudmila Alexeyeva, the chairwoman of Moscow Helsinki Group, signed a letter to President Medvedev calling upon him to attend a court hearing so he could see a "full picture of the Russian justice system with all its flaws".
Also in October, the UK government indicated that Khodorkovsky's case would be raised when British Foreign Secretary David Miliband visits Moscow in November. During a debate in the House of Commons on UK relations with Russia, Chris Bryant, British Minister for Europe, assured parliament that the Foreign Secretary would raise the issue in meetings with the Russian government. Miliband's visit will be the first by a British Foreign Secretary to Russia since 2004, and it is hoped that he will continue the trend of other governments by raising the Khodorkovsky case within the context of seeking assurances about the credibility of the Russian justice system.
Skepticism and incredulity about the new trial are not confined to Western political elites. On October 29, hundreds of people gathered in Leipzig's Gewandhaus for a special concert dedicated to Khodorkovsky. In commemoration of the 20-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, world-renowned Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica orchestra played in honor of all those who have risked their lives to fight for political and personal freedoms.
After six years of fighting for his own political and personal freedoms, Khodorkovsky's release would signal a true transition towards the modern Russia that President Medvedev claims he wishes to see. As the current proceedings drag on, the key question is whether in the end the court will be able to preserve its own honor - and that of the Russian legal system which will be judged on the basis of this bellwether trial.
