M
muto2100
Guest
he and others jewSS crooks stealed over
200 bilions US$$$$$ from Rusiia.
U.S. Blasts Russian Move to Slap New Charges on Khodorkovsky
Created: 06.02.2007 10:03 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 10:03 MSK, 35 minutes
ago
MosNews
The United States assailed a decision by Russian prosecutors to issue
new charges against jailed former oil tycoon and Kremlin critic
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, saying it raised questions about democracy under
Vladimir Putin's government, the Agence France Presse reported on
Monday.
"The continued prosecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the
dismantlement of Yukos raise serious questions about the rule of law
in Russia," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
Yukos is the oil firm once headed by Khodorkovsky.
Noting that Khodorkovsky and his associate Platon Lebedev would have
been eligible to apply for parole this year after serving time in a
Siberian prison camp for alleged fraud, McCormack said the new charges
would "likely preclude their early release."
"Such actions in the case against Khodorkovsky and Yukos have raised
serious concerns about the independence of courts, sanctity of
contracts and property rights, and the lack of a predictable tax
regime" in Russia, he said.
"The conduct of Russian authorities in the Khodorkovsky/Yukos affair
has eroded Russia's reputation and confidence in Russian legal and
judicial institutions," he said.
McCormack said the Yukos case was only one of a number of incidents
that "raise questions about Russia's commitment to the
responsibilities which all democratic, free market countries embrace."
Washington will raise its concerns over the case with Moscow "at an
appropriate time and at the appropriate level", McCormack said.
He could not say if the issue came up in talks here last week between
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov.
The new legal difficulties looked likely to scotch hopes of any early
release for Khodorkovsky, prompting accusations of a Kremlin-inspired
persecution of the country's highest-profile opponent of Putin.
If convicted of money laundering, Khodorkovsky could face a sentence
of up to 15 years, meaning he could get up to seven years on top of
the eight-year sentence he is currently serving in Siberia after
having been found guilty in May 2005 of fraud and tax evasion.
200 bilions US$$$$$ from Rusiia.
U.S. Blasts Russian Move to Slap New Charges on Khodorkovsky
Created: 06.02.2007 10:03 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 10:03 MSK, 35 minutes
ago
MosNews
The United States assailed a decision by Russian prosecutors to issue
new charges against jailed former oil tycoon and Kremlin critic
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, saying it raised questions about democracy under
Vladimir Putin's government, the Agence France Presse reported on
Monday.
"The continued prosecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the
dismantlement of Yukos raise serious questions about the rule of law
in Russia," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
Yukos is the oil firm once headed by Khodorkovsky.
Noting that Khodorkovsky and his associate Platon Lebedev would have
been eligible to apply for parole this year after serving time in a
Siberian prison camp for alleged fraud, McCormack said the new charges
would "likely preclude their early release."
"Such actions in the case against Khodorkovsky and Yukos have raised
serious concerns about the independence of courts, sanctity of
contracts and property rights, and the lack of a predictable tax
regime" in Russia, he said.
"The conduct of Russian authorities in the Khodorkovsky/Yukos affair
has eroded Russia's reputation and confidence in Russian legal and
judicial institutions," he said.
McCormack said the Yukos case was only one of a number of incidents
that "raise questions about Russia's commitment to the
responsibilities which all democratic, free market countries embrace."
Washington will raise its concerns over the case with Moscow "at an
appropriate time and at the appropriate level", McCormack said.
He could not say if the issue came up in talks here last week between
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov.
The new legal difficulties looked likely to scotch hopes of any early
release for Khodorkovsky, prompting accusations of a Kremlin-inspired
persecution of the country's highest-profile opponent of Putin.
If convicted of money laundering, Khodorkovsky could face a sentence
of up to 15 years, meaning he could get up to seven years on top of
the eight-year sentence he is currently serving in Siberia after
having been found guilty in May 2005 of fraud and tax evasion.
