May 31, 2005
Free Mikhail Khodorkovsky
I woke up to the news today that Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been sentenced to nine years in prison.
Garry Kasparov wrote this back in March:
The arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky has little in common with the prosecution of corrupt businessmen in the U.S. He is being punished for trying to free himself and his corporation, the Yukos energy company, from state pressure. He wanted to follow the law, not the Kremlin’s corrupt edicts, and for this he was arrested. Imagine a Western court hearing a case in which the defendant’s lawyer was searched on her way out of visiting her client in prison, with all of her papers seized and admitted as evidence! This is business as usual in Mr. Putin’s Russia.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky will probably not get an Amnesty International campaign in his honor. They’re too busy condemning America (America, of all places!) for human rights abuses. He will not get the usual attention of leftists who think that criticizing Putin is somehow a reflection on Bush, because he is rich and because his business is energy. But we shouldn’t forget him as he is, more than just an unfortunate man caught up in a corrupt system, a symbol of the deep problems Russia has, and will continue to have, until they let go of Communism and live without the totalitarian system to which they’ve become accustomed.
Technorati Tags: Mikhail+Khodorkovsky Vladimir+Putin Yukos+Energy Garry+Kasparov
Funny how you can see the need for an independent judiciary and attorney/client privilege in Russia. What did you think of Lynne Stewart again?
Posted by: Not Dawn Summers at May 31, 2005 at 1:55 pmWhen the attorney commits a crime, all privilege is waived. His attorney committed no crimes.
Posted by: Karol at May 31, 2005 at 2:15 pmSlightly OT: is hearing this sort of thing from a chess player like getting politics from an actor?
Posted by: Shawn at May 31, 2005 at 2:39 pmI think it all depends. Most actors don’t even have a marginal clue about politics, whether left or right. There are some that are interested in it enough to really get it. I feel like Kasparov is in that small segment of people who are famous for one thing but understand a lot about another.
Posted by: Karol at May 31, 2005 at 2:48 pmI dunno which leftists you’re talking about, Karol…my friends and I have no problem at all criticizing Putin AND Bush, sometimes in the same sentence.
Meanwhile it’s nice to see that your breathless devotion to rich white men who steal and defraud continues unabated.
Slightly OT: is hearing this sort of thing from a chess player like getting politics from an actor?
Yea, I’d certainly favor Kasparov’s political pronouncements over, say, Bobby Fisher’s.
Funny how you can see the need for an independent judiciary and attorney/client privilege in Russia.
Funny how you can’t see the difference between representing a client and committing a crime. As a criminal defense attorney, I’m not flattered at all.
“But we shouldn’t forget him as he is, more than just an unfortunate man caught up in a corrupt system, a symbol of the deep problems Russia has, and will continue to have, until they let go of Communism and live without the totalitarian system to which they’ve become accustomed.”
Ivan. Boris Godunov. Peter the Great. Catherine. Alexander. Nicholas. Alexander III. Another Nicholas. Stoylpin. Lenin. Stalin. Brezhnev. Putin. Sometimes it take a long time to let go of a political culture.
Ivan. Boris Godunov. Peter the Great. Catherine. Alexander. Nicholas. Alexander III. Another Nicholas. Stoylpin. Lenin. Stalin. Brezhnev. Putin.
Hey, don’t forget about Yakov Smirnoff.
What makes Russia so miserable is the abundance of “righteous” little people, who’d rather see other people get punished for their success, than succeed themselves.
Mr.Don Myers would fit right in.
Don’t forget that he’s Jewish and Jews as we know control not only Mother Russia but the WHOLE world, thus he is being punished rightously. Oh, USSR, i mean Putin’s Russia’s judicial system, got to hate it. And agreed with Ivan 100% on the shitty mentality of a lot of people over there.
Posted by: Petitedov at May 31, 2005 at 8:01 pmIvan:
Is that what happened to Ken Lay and Arthur Anderson—”getting punished for their success”?
“Mikhail Khodorkovsky will probably not get an Amnesty International campaign in his honor. They’re too busy condemning America (America, of all places!) for human rights abuses”
oh nae much
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460202005
Graeme,
The Conservo’s tend to turn a blind eye to anything that amnesty international does unless it is critisizing the USA and then they shine a flash light and say all amnesty international does is bash the USA.
Don,
You’re missing the point.
Is Arthur Anderson the reason why you can’t get a life?
Is it Khodorkovsky’s fault that Russian oil was not privatized in a civilized way?
Graeme, my bad. I checked but didn’t find any comment on him.
Posted by: Karol at June 1, 2005 at 10:36 amIvan:
Clearly I AM missing the point, draped as it is in right-wing code and Randian blather. So help me out here, dude.
Since Putin is bad (we all agree on that one, yes?), therefore Khodorkovsky is the good guy? Or is it possible that Khodorkovsky is still a capitalist swindler?
Mikhail is a great man. i would hope one day i can meet him. this is a disgrace that Putin,And Medivel are doing this to him. talk about justice. how obvios is it they are trying to keep him lock up ,because he was the only hope for russia democracy.
let him out and move to kansas city.
