Moscow tells detractors to 'mind their own business' as Europe and US express serious concern at guilty verdict
Russia's government came out fighting today in response to international criticism over the jailing of the oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, warning European countries and the US to "mind their own business".
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, issued a statement yesterday saying Khodorkovsky'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: "Judgments about some kind of selective application of justice in Russia are without foundation. 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 of theft and money laundering by a Moscow court yesterday.
Critics say the trial constitutes revenge for the tycoon's questioning of a state monopoly on oil pipelines and propping up political parties that oppose the Kremlin.
The two men's fate remains unclear because sentencing will not take place until the trial judge, Viktor Danilkin, finishes reading his 250-page verdict, which could take several days.
Clinton's censure was echoed by politicians in Britain and Germany, and Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, urged Moscow to "respect its international commitments in the field of human rights and the rule of law".
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", he said. "In any country such deeds require criminal punishment. In the United States, by the way, life sentences are given for these acts."
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.
Vadim Klyuvgant, Khodorkovksy's lead lawyer, dismissed the Russian foreign ministry's reaction to criticism as a "mix of glaring incompetence and outright lies".
He pointed out that the ministry referred to Khodorkovksy and Lebedev's prosecution being related to tax evasion, which was in fact a charge in their first trial, which concluded in 2005.
He also disputed the claim that the trial came under the exclusive jurisdiction of Russian authorities. "The Russian Federation - and knowledge of this is one of the direct duties of the foreign ministry - has accepted the jurisdiction of the European convention on human rights, under which defence of human rights is not an internal matter of any state but one of the values that stand above national legislation," he told the Interfax news agency.
Several hundred protesters gathered around the trial court in Moscow's Khamovniki district shouting, "Shame!" and "Russia without Putin!" as proceedings got under way inside.
Danilkin resumed reading his verdict this morning, as police closed streets around the court to traffic.
Asked about Khodorkvosky's second trial, Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, said earlier this month: "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".
No comments:
Post a Comment