U.S. Representatives Submit Resolution about the Politically Motivated Trial of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev
U.S. Reps. James McGovern (D-Mass.), chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, introduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives stating that the government-led trial constitutes a politically-motivated case of selective arrest and prosecution that serves as a test of the rule of law and independence of Russia’s judicial system.
The resolution calls on the House to recognize that:
(1) Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev are prisoners who have been denied basic due process rights under international law and the laws of the Russian Federation for political reasons;
(2) in light of the record of selective prosecution, politicization, and abuse of process involved in their cases, and as a demonstration of Russia’s commitment to democracy, human rights and the rule of law, the new criminal charges brought by Russian authorities against Mr.Khodorkovsky and Mr. Lebedev should be withdrawn;
(3) the standing of the Russian Federation as a nation supporting democracy, freedom of expression, an independent judiciary, human rights, and the rule of law would be validated by paroling these two individuals, both of whom have served more than half their sentences; and
(4) the Russian Federation is encouraged to take these actions to support democratic principles and human rights in furtherance of a new and more positive relationship between the United States and Russia and a new era of mutual cooperation.
This resolution came just one week after the bipartisan filing of a similar resolution by U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), urging the U.S. Senate to recognize that Khodorkovsky and Lebedev have been denied basic due process rights under international law for political reasons.