German Liberal MP Delegation Comments on Khodorkovsky Trial After Court Visit
A delegation of 12 German MPs visited the Khodorkovsky-Lebedev trial on September 7, witnessing Platon Lebedev continue to give his testimony.
Dr. Rainer Stinner, Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs for the Liberal Party (FDP) in the German Bundestag, commented on the proceedings afterwards:
"With this visit, us German deputies wanted to state our interest in the situation with the development of the rule of law state in Russia. It was important for us to get an idea about the trial; however our core goal is to state our interest in the status of the rule of law in Russia."
"Germany is interested in how Russia implements the rule of law and in connection with this process there is a big suspicion, through many signs, that this process is being used as a political instrument. In our view, modernization is not only about the development of external trade and technology but modernization in the development of a rule of law for Russia's government, in particular."
"Concerning the German federal government, you can be certain that it is following this process very closely - including Justice Minister [Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger], who attended this court process on numerous occasions and has followed it closely for many years."