Russian Human Rights Activists Call for End to Khodorkovsky-Lebedev Trial
This week, as historic meetings between U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin take place, Ludmilla Alexeeva, Lev Ponomarev, Ernst Cherny and others published the following letter about the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, and what it means for justice and human rights in Russia today.
Excerpts:
We are convinced that the criminal prosecution of Platon Lebedev and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which has turned into a shameful parody of justice, must be stopped at the initiative of the state itself, and the defendants immediately released, inasmuch as they have already served more than half their sentence on the first conviction and have the right to count on conditional early release on parole.
The Khodorkovsky-Lebedev trial has become the shame of the whole country. The organizers of the trial need to understand this too, and their behind-the-scenes protectors, as well as those government officials with whose hands all this is being carried out. They will not be able to cover up what is taking place.
We call upon not only Russian society, but also representatives of international human rights organizations, political parties and organizations, representatives of the diplomatic missions of democratic countries to attend the Khodorkovsky-Lebedev trial. The whole world ought to clearly see the price for justice in Russia. Perhaps this will force both the state and society to come to their senses.
We consider that Russian and international society must let the powers of the Russian Federation understand in no uncertain terms that a new conviction in the Khodorkovsky and Lebedev case will put them outside the circle of rule-of-law states.