RUSSIA: Progress Could Be Under Arrest

By Kester Kenn Klomegah Reprint | | Print |

Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW, Jun 6 2005 (IPS) - The sentencing of Russia’s richest oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky to nine years in prison could cause the country immeasurable harm and change its economic and political landscape, human rights activists and political analysts say.

Khodorkovsky was sentenced to nine years in prison last week after he was convicted of fraud and tax evasion. He now faces new charges of money laundering. But the veracity of several of the charges has been challenged.

“What happened is yet another blow against Russia, against its national interest and against its future,” liberal member of parliament Vladimir Ryzhkov told IPS. “I expect that a wave of repression against small and medium sized business will sweep across the country. This verdict is a tragic example of the authorities turning a legal system against an individual for political ends.”

Ryzhkov said Khodorkovsky’s team should consider filing an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

“There’s nothing to be expected from the Russian justice system,” Ryzkov said. He described the sentence as “a political reprisal against an independent businessman and a potential political opponent.”

The U.S. government plans to give detailed consideration to the sentence against Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy told IPS. “The United States understands the sentence is a rather complex document and Khodorkovsky and Lebedev have the right to appeal.”

A variety of aspects of the case against Khodorkovsky’s oil company Yukos have raised serious questions about the rule of law in Russia, the independence of courts, the inviolability of contracts and ownership rights and the absence of a predictable tax policy, the diplomat said.

Such actions and also other court proceedings call into question Russia’s commitment to obligations it assumed together with all democratic countries with free, developing markets, he said.

“It is in the Russian government’s interests to convince the world that the weakness of its law enforcement and judicial institutions will be dealt with promptly,” he said.

Prior to his arrest, Fortune magazine estimated Khodorkovsky’s wealth at 15 billion dollars. A former member of the communist Komsomol youth movement, Khodorkovsky was among a handful of men who deftly took advantage of the chaos that followed the crumbling of the Soviet Union to emerge with credible wealth.

Now questions are arising about the new Russia.

“It’s logical sometimes for the courts to analyse certain statements made by the political authorities. Democracy under Putin is now evolving, the country wants to create a stable business environment and raise its image abroad, and Khodorkovsky’s final verdict might determine which way Russia would go,” human rights researcher Michael Waganda told IPS.

“The uncertainties raised by the case against businesses, especially Yukos, and together with (steps against) non-governmental organisations and religious groups have generated much fear in Russia. Inevitably, other prospective foreign investors are quite afraid to risk their capital,” Waganda said.

U. S. Congressman Thomas Lantos (Democrat), a member of the Committee on International Relations, has submitted a resolution in Congress on Russia’s expulsion from G8 (the group of eight industrialised countries including the United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia).

“Russia shouldn’t be allowed to be considered a democratic country after the sentence. It’s clear that Russia is rolling back and not relying on the law,” he told journalists in Moscow.

“In democratic countries governors are elected in free elections, not appointed. The centralisation of power continues in Russia, which is not making it a free, democratic nation,” Lantos said.

Former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov, a potential presidential challenger in 2008 said the trial of both Khodorkovsky and Lebedev was a “farce”, and said any business could be next.

“My unambiguous opinion is that it (the trial) was intended to demonstrate that the same or even tougher measures can be taken against any person,” Kasyanov said at a press briefing. “I consider this a judicial farce, a demonstration to everyone that anybody can find themselves in such a situation and maybe even tougher.”

Such steps taken by the authorities are unacceptable, he said.

“The Khodorkovsky case marks a turning point for Russia, while the verdict may mean that Russia has crossed the point of no return,” Kasyanov said. “The consequences will be negative and far-reaching.”

There are some indications that Khodorkovsky’s jailing could turn him into a political force.

Khodorkovsky appeared to be laying the groundwork for that transformation. “I don’t have significant savings any more,” he said in a statement. “I’ve lost my place in the oligarchs’ club. But I have gained a huge number of true and devoted friends. I have gotten back my feeling for my country. And now together with my people I will bear this, and victory will be ours together.”

Khodorkovsky thanked his supporters through his website. “Thank you very much for your support,” he said. “I’m convinced that only through the collective vindication of our rights and the rights of others will we be able to overcome the arbitrary actions by the criminal bureaucracy, and build a normal civil society.”