Mikhail Khodorkovsky found guilty again

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Narmer

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Aug 27, 2006
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Yes, I understand it's a show trial. Yes, I understand the second accusations contradict the first. However, I couldn't care less. When the Soviet Union fell the current oligarchs, Khodorkovsky included, were given state assets for next to nothing. When Putin came to power, he give the oligarchs a simple choice: you were given state asset for next to nothing. If you bend to my will you can keep them. If you don't I will punish you. Most of the oligarchs did as they were told but, somehow, Mr. Knodorkovsky felt that his running of the firm had legitimized how he got the assets. It's like the head of a criminal enterprise trying to go legit. So, he supported opposition candidates. Now, he's fucked and the West is making him out to be some type of hero. He isn't. Khordorkovsky simply forgot who he was, a pillager of state assets who was beholden to his masters, and Putin reminded him. There are no heroes in this story.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12081564

Russian oil tycoon Khodorkovsky found guilty in trial

Former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been found guilty of embezzlement at his politically charged second trial in Moscow.

The judge said Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were guilty of stealing from their firm Yukos and laundering the proceeds.

Khodorkovsky is already serving an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion from his 2005 trial.

His supporters maintain the case against him is politically motivated.

Khodorkovsky, 47, was due to be released next year, but the new convictions could see him jailed until 2017.

The two defendants were led into court in handcuffs by armed guards.

In the sealed glass dock Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man. waved at his parents, the small courtroom packed with journalists and cameras.

Several hundred demonstrators could be heard outside the courtroom, chanting "Freedom!" and "Put Putin [the Russian prime minister] in jail!"

Police made a number of arrests.

Only a handful of reporters were present as the judge read out the first few pages of the verdict, and they were later asked to leave.

"The court has established that Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev committed embezzlement acting in collusion with a group of people and using their professional positions," the judge said.

Delivering the full verdict and sentence is expected to take several days.

Khodorkovsky's lawyers have already said they will appeal.

'Sick state'

In the latest trial, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev are accused of stealing hundreds of millions of tonnes of oil from the now defunct Yukos oil company,and laundering the proceeds, in the years 1998-2003.
Khodorkovsky lawyers say Vladimir Putin is applying pressure to courts

He has denounced the charges as rubbish.

Khodorkovsky has said that a state that destroys its best companies and trusts only the bureaucracy and the special services is a sick state.

Many critics believe the government wants the former tycoon kept behind bars for as long as possible because he financed the opposition when Vladimir Putin was president.

Mr Putin - now Russia's prime minister - referred to Khodorkovsky in a televised question-and-answer session last week, when he said he believed "a thief belongs in prison".

Khodorkovsky's lawyers said Mr Putin's comments "removed all doubt about who puts pressure on the court".

Russian human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva said the verdict announced on Monday had not come as a surprise.

"I expected this judgement. But all the same I am upset," she said.

"The judge would have had to be a hero to have given an acquittal verdict."
 
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Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
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There are no heroes in this story.

I suspect you got it right with that. Corrupt elites fighting for the loot doesn't have many.

I'm not that familiar with the defendant to say much, but it seems the group who got the assets can largely be condemned.

He does seem to be a darling of some on the right simply for being a Putin Martyr and representing unrestrained pursuit of concentrated wealth.
 

postmortemIA

Diamond Member
Jul 11, 2006
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West will make a hero everybody who opposes Putin. Just another sample where west sticks its nose where it does not belong.
 

AnyMal

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
15,780
0
76
Putin needs to eat a few oligarchs every now and then. Its how he gets his superpowers.
He devours them only when they ateempt to step into his territory - politics. I am not sure why anyone would be suprised at the verdict. Khodorovsky will remain imprisoned for as long as Putin will remain in power.
 

gevorg

Diamond Member
Nov 3, 2004
5,075
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Who cares to what happens with Khodorovsky? By taking out the richest thief, Putin put all other Khodorovskys in check. Government controlled enterprises are not ideal but much better than mafia controlled enterprises. Pretty smart move to fight corruption, but of course, anything good for Russia is bad for the Wild West.
 

ThatsABigOne

Diamond Member
Nov 8, 2010
4,430
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I am from Belarus, which is a neighboring country of Russia.

Our state media actually disparages the Russian politics as mafia-like, shitty, and corrupt beyond recovery. If you live in Russia, it is scary to step outside as you are exposed to organized crime, bombings, and random kidnappings.

In our country, even if Lukashenko has won the elections again, we will know that there is order that rules the stability of the country.

Oh and Russia, stop asking Belarus for support. We have a mind of our own, and would like to say eff off.
 

senseamp

Lifer
Feb 5, 2006
35,787
6,195
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Sad, but not surprising. Long term it's a huge money drain on Russia as smart people who make fortunes there expatriate the wealth and move out since they know that money can be taken away by the state at any time and they can be imprisoned without real due process. Sane people don't want to live in an insane asylum if they can avoid it.
 

Gyhrg71

Member
Dec 8, 2010
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From a leaked US cable:

The fact that legal procedures are apparently being meticulously followed in a case whose motivation is clearly political may appear paradoxical. It shows the effort that the GOR is willing to expend in order to save face, in this case by applying a superficial rule-of-law gloss to a cynical system where political enemies are eliminated with impunity. It is not lost on either elite or mainstream Russians that the GOR has applied a double standard to the illegal activities of 1990s oligarchs; if it were otherwise, virtually every other oligarch would be on trial alongside Khodorkovskiy and Lebedev. There is a widespread understanding that Khodorkovskiy violated the tacit rules of the game: if you keep out of politics, you can line your pockets as much as you desire. Most Russians believe the Khodorkovskiy trial is politically motivated; they simply do not care that it is. Human rights activists in general have an uphill battle in overcoming public apathy and cynicism, but nowhere more so than in the Khodorkovskiy case. We will continue to monitor the case as it unfolds.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/27/wikileaks-russia-mikhail-khodorkovsky-trial
 

AnyMal

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
15,780
0
76
I am from Belarus, which is a neighboring country of Russia..
Sorry to hear that. No, really, I am. My wife is from Minsk and it's one depressing place.

Our state media actually disparages the Russian politics as mafia-like, shitty, and corrupt beyond recovery. If you live in Russia, it is scary to step outside as you are exposed to organized crime, bombings, and random kidnappings.
Pot meet kettle. Belarus is notorious for "disappearence" of opposition politicians.[/QUOTE]

In our country, even if Lukashenko has won the elections again, we will know that there is order that rules the stability of the country.
Of course Lukashenko "won"

Oh and Russia, stop asking Belarus for support. We have a mind of our own, and would like to say eff off.
Really? Should've thought of that few years ago when Lukashenko was busy kissing Yeltsin's then Putin's asses and begging for Union treaty.
 
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