Russia First Mikhail Khodorkovsky trial ‘not political,’ European court upholds

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has not backed a claim by jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky that his arrest and trial were politically motivated. In a press release issued on December 14, the Grand Chamber said it had rejected to re-examine the court’s May 31 judgment, which said “incontestable proof” to back allegations of political motivation behind Khodorkovsky’s prosecution “had not been presented.” However, the Strasbourg judges then ruled that Russia violated Khodorkovsky’s rights during his arrest in 2003 and detention. Khodorkovsky’s eight-year jail term has since been extended for fraud and tax evasion has since been extended by another five years. He was convicted in a second case last December of stealing oil from his own oil firm Yukos and is currently due for release in 2016. The European court’s judgment is now final, meaning Russia is obliged to pay Khodorkovsky 24,543 euros in compensation within the next three months. It also means that Russian courts’ decisions which authorized the tycoon’s detention can now be re-examined, one of Khodorkovsky’s lawyers, Vadim Klyuvgant, told the Kommersant daily. Recently, a documentary film showing the history of the Khodorkovsky affair was released in Moscow and Russia in only a few cinemas, as many refused to show it.