Eric Watkins
Oil Diplomacy Editor
The international oil and gas industry will certainly want to know that the Russian government must pay Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former chief executive officer of OAO Yukos, €24,543 for violating his human rights.
“Mr. Khodorkovsky had been kept in inhuman and degrading conditions between Aug. 8 and Oct. 9, 2005,” said the European Court of Human Rights. “In particular, he had had less than 4 sq m of personal space in his cell, and the sanitary conditions had been appalling.”
However, the court dismissed claims that Khodorkovsky’s arrest on fraud charges was politically motivated, saying the accusations required “incontestable proof, which had not been presented.”
That does not seem to be the view of the US Department of State, which criticized Russia for violating “the due process” after a Moscow court upheld a guilty verdict for Khodorkovsky.
‘Improper ends’
DOS spokesman Mark Toner said the decision against Khodorkovsky and codefendant Platon Lebedev underlined Washington’s concerns about serious due process violations. More to the point, he said Russia’s legal system has been used for “improper” ends.
“The denial of Khodorkovsky’s and Lebedev’s appeals, upholding long prison terms, affirms our concerns about serious due process violations and the use of the legal system for improper ends,” Toner said.
“Russia cannot nurture a modern economy without also developing an independent judiciary that serves as an instrument for furthering economic growth and modernization, and ensuring equal treatment under the law,” Toner said.
That’s a fairly damning statement, but it falls far short of claiming what most people believe: that Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin orchestrated the arrest, trial and conviction of Khodorkovsky in an effort to get the oilman out of his way.
Political threat
The 47-year-old Khodorkovsky, first arrested in 2003, was once seen as a political threat to Putin. If so, he has clearly not been much of a threat behind bars. And, that is precisely where Putin plans to keep him for a long time to come.
Khodorkovsky was sentenced last year to another 6 years beyond his original 8-year prison term for fraud and tax evasion. The additional 6-year sentence was reduced by a year earlier this month.
Khodorkovsky and Lebedev have asked a Moscow court for parole and the court said it will decide “in the next few days” whether to officially consider it, a court spokeswoman said.
But don’t hold your breath.
It marks Khodorkovsky’s second parole motion; his first was denied in 2008 by a judge who cited the oil magnate’s refusal to attend sewing classes as well as his failure to keep his hands behind his back during a prison walk.
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