Kovalev: This Is a Vassal Law
Sergey Kovalev, Soviet dissident, human rights campaigner and politician shared his impressions after visiting the Khamovnichesky Court on April 28th:
"This is a deliberately political trial. Even with all of their strange precautions, even Amnesty International would have to recognize it as such, I suppose. Sitting here today, I have been making comparisons of what was happening in our days to what is taking place now. There have been substantial changes to some minor aspects, but the essence stayed the same. There is an imposed mission - to put behind bars, to convict. Maybe the mission will change later, anything could happen.
In our time it was all much simpler and more demonstrative. The prosecutors did not bother to conduct long readings of something not really related to the case. In my time, some very basic logic could be traced in the prosecution's speeches - very crude, poor logic, I would say - but at least one could hear what he was accused of and why.
What I have heard here were anti-statements. There were no arguments which could be supported by the documents being read. So, if the argument is not there, why read anything at all?
There is no judiciary and no justice. This is a vassal law. Now, what the outcome is going to be like is a separate issue. On the one hand, there could be some political motivations for Medvedev to prove that he is not Putin. Then we shall have one sort of a verdict. On the other hand, there may be a decision to demonstratively punish and teach a lesson. But the court has nothing to do with it."