Russian Justice Again
Michael J. Economides, the editor-in-chief of the Energy Tribune, comments on the new charges that have been filed against Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The first charges against him were considered by many, both inside and outside of Russia, as a sham.
For starters, Yukos alleged tax bill was larger than the entire income of the company. The Khodorkovsky and Yukos affair more than any other showed the true nature of Vladimir Putin's regime. The taking over of Yukos was called the "swindle of the year" by Putin's own economic advisor Andrei Illarionov.
The outrageousness of the charge, other than the obvious rationale of the sham proceedings, is that the prosecutor seems not to know how an integrated oil company works. The alleged victim was a wholly owned subsidiary of Yukos. It would be the same if the headquarters of an American oil company were to be accused of taking the profits of their Texas subsidiary.
Yuri Schmidt, one of Khodorkovsky's defense lawyers, after looking at the new charges, said: "There's nothing new in any of this. From the very first sentence, it appears to be nothing but nonsense."