Eurasia Press & News
Jailed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Tuesday challenged President Dmitry Medvedev from the dock of a Moscow court to stand by his promise to keep the judiciary independent of the Kremlin.
The former boss of oil group YUKOS, on trial on new charges that could keep him in jail for an additional 22 years, said his fate would send a signal to Russians on whether to trust the court system or to take their grievances onto the streets.
“President Medvedev has several times noted the importance of having an authoritative and independent judiciary in the country. This is a key question,” Khodorkovsky, 45, said from behind a glass screen in the courtroom.
“The YUKOS case, whether anyone likes it or not, is symbolic,” he said. “Tens of thousands of Russian courts … will accept the standards of justice set down in this case as an example to copy.”
Medvedev has made the establishment of an independent judiciary a key pledge of his presidency and the trial of Khodorkovsky and co-accused Platon Lebedev is being closely watched as a test of this promise.
The pair were sentenced to eight years in prison for fraud and tax evasion in 2005 under then-president Vladimir Putin, in a case widely condemned as a politicized bid to rein in the powerful business chiefs known as oligarchs.
Analysts have said an acquittal for Khodorkovsky would be read as a potent sign of liberalization under Medvedev, while a successful prosecution would indicate Putin, now a powerful prime minister, remains firmly in control.
APPLAUSE
In a short speech, greeted with applause by supporters in the courtroom, Khodorkovsky pinned his hopes on Medvedev.
“It is clear that President Medvedev, in promising society independent and honest courts, has taken on an extremely heavy but very important burden,” said Khodorkovsky.
“Will the example of one court be enough? Will the court realise that it is a court and not a cheap tool for corporate raiders and corrupt officials? Will it help the president and the country? We will see.”
The stakes, he said, were high because a public that did not trust the country’s courts would take to the streets.
“When a person feels his rights have been violated in a crisis situation … there are two ways out: to proceed calmly through the courts or loudly through civil protests,” he said.
After weeks of hearing a long list of defence petitions, prosecutors began to present their charges.
The judge called a recess after lead prosecutor Valery Lakhtin took one hour and 40 minutes to read the first 24 pages of terse legal language, a small fraction of the thick volume of charges.
Prosecutors say the pair helped embezzle 900 billion roubles ($25 billion) from YUKOS subsidiaries Yuganskneftegaz, Samaraneftegaz and Tomskneft between 1998 and 2004.
They are also accused of embezzling shares of another daughter company and of laundering 500 billion roubles ($15 billion) earned through the crimes.
Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, who chatted and flicked through notes as the charges were read, say the accusation they stole money and shares from YUKOS’ daughter companies defies logic.
Khodorkovsky accused the prosecution of padding out a weak case with irrelevant incidents and legal language.
“Your honour, the case has been intentionally made obscure,” he told the judge. “The accusations are clearly contradictory.”
The trial was due to continue on Wednesday.
