Letters: Retrograde Russia

This refers to “Khodorkovsky found guilty in oil embezzlement trial, lawyers say” (December 28). Oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Lebedev have been sentenced to six more years in jail for fraud and tax evasion. Although it is true that Mr Kohdorkovsky engaged in accounting malpractices to boost share prices of Yukos Oil Co, the punishment is disproportionately cruel.

This reflects the legal nihilism in Russia and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s iron grip over the country’s so-called “democratic” institutions, including the judiciary.

Mr Khodorkovsky has been charged with amassing the entire output of Yukos between 1999 and 2000 and the whole of exports from 2000 to 2003. He was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to six years in prison in 2005. Now, he has been sentenced for another six years.

Mr Putin’s tenure is due to expire in 2012. And Mr Khodorkovsky has been a known dissident of Mr Putin’s ways — he is known to have funded some of the political opponents of Mr Putin in 2003. Against this backdrop, one is forced to conclude that Mr Putin is pursuing a political vendetta.

Also, the oligarchs who have mushroomed under Mr Putin’s patronage have not been charged under the Russian law. Decentralisation of powers was the theme of Mr Putin’s political propaganda in 2000, but what has happened is only centralisation of powers into Kremlin. Press freedom has been suppressed. Nations that toe the line – for example, Ukraine, Argentina and Hungary – enjoy Russia’s patronage.

Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev are insecure about their political future in Russia. Reforms like democratisation and modernisation of the nation promised by Mr Medvedev are only paper tigers. The insecurity has led to the incarceration of political opponents and their supporters in Russia.

Given the state of affairs, investors would only be wary of investing in Russia.

Raghu Seshadri, Chennai

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