I live to this day as well...

Grigory Pasko, journalist

Instead of an epigraph: «Endpiece of a modern fairytale: «And had the not been rehabilitated, they live to this day as well» -- Jerzy Lec

Если Вы хотите прочитать оригинал данной статьи на русском языке, нажмите сюда.It goes without saying that I am disappointed by the decision of the European Court of Human Rights. But no more than that. The ECHR decision in any case is belated and doesn't change anything in my life. Much worse is that this decision, in essence, is a spit into the souls of thousands of people: both those who are still waiting for positive decisions with respect ...

TODAY: Russia keeps its voting rights in Council of Europe; Lavrov says Russia wants unbiased discussions about human rights; French Foreign Minister argues Russia flouting ceasefire; Israeli diplomat makes swift exit; UK Foreign Secretary visit to ease tensions?; Scientology 1- Russia nil.At a meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Sergei Lavrov has asserted that the Kremlin has not avoided discussing human rights issues with other European states, 'but that dialogue should not be politicized, it should be concrete'.  According to Bloomberg, Kouchner has said that Russia is not honoring the terms of the 'Sarkozy-Medvedev' ceasefire agreement.   Ex-Georgian parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze has blamed President Mikheil Saakashvili for last year's conflict with Russia and has affirmed ...

TODAY:  Georgia-Russia tensions simmer in advance of EU report; Council of Europe hullabaloo.  Russia edgy on Washington's new defense scheme; Obama forward looking; Kremlin does not feel Iran missiles justify sanctions.  Journalist in hiding over anti-Soviet article; no joy for beer drinkers and hackersAccusations are flying ahead of today's publication of EU-backed report on the war in Georgia which is expected to be critical of both parties.  The Times says that Georgia has preemptively accused Russia of spreading 'patently false information about fictitious attacks on Russian peacekeepers'.  Tbilisi has also claimed that the report has concluded that Russian troops were responsible for ethnic cleansing during the conflict.  Russia is bristling at motions in the Parliamentary ...

The following is a press release being distributed today on behalf of the Mikhail Khodorkovsky defense team:

OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF ITALIAN PARLIAMENT VOTE TO SUPPORT MIKHAIL KHORDOKOVSKY

Rome, September 23, 2009 - The Italian parliament today voted in favour of a motion urging the Italian Government "to activate all diplomatic channels, together with other European partners, to guarantee the respect for human rights and the right of defence for Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev and for all Russian citizens". The motion, presented at the Lower Chamber by Pier Ferdinando Casini, leader of the Christian Democrat Party (UDC), received overwhelming support: out of 478 MPs attending the plenary session, 430 voted in favour. During the debate, Alfredo Mantica, Undersecretary of State for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed support for the motion on behalf of the Government and called for unanimous adoption

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[Again, my apologies for the late posting of this news blast, as I'm covering all the bases on my own today... - Best, James]TODAY:  The United States sells even more arms during a recession, Gorbachev's towering ego, more gas spats between the Kremlin and Kiev, Khodorkovsky talks about jail for life, the Pikalyovo virus spreads, Deripaska doesn't want Opel, and a EU human rights commissioner gets the state-approved tour of Chechnya.Russia and Ukraine are at each other's throats again over natural gas, with the Kremlin accusing Kiev of attempting to alter the contracts.  In a televised meeting with Gazprom's Alexei Millar, President Dmitry Medvedev said "As far as an idea of an advance payment for tariffs, then ...

Somebody from Freedom House wrote an op/ed in the Moscow Times about Russia's moves to water down its responsibilities before the European Court of Human Rights.

Georgy Matyushkin, Russia's representative to the European Court of Human Rights, believes that cases already submitted to the court would be retracted and sent back for review by Russian courts. This includes thousands of cases that deal with counterterrorist operations in the North Caucasus, particularly in Chechnya. The law could also prevent any future cases from reaching the European court.

Simply put, the new law has the potential to cut off the world from knowing about the impunity and lawlessness in the North Caucasus. (...)

According to Memorial, there are up to 5,000 people missing from the second Chechen war alone. So far, the European Court of Human Rights has made rulings on only several dozen of these cases because of a severe backlog.

By

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The following is the official press statement from the offices of the German MP Dr Andreas Schockenhoff, who attended the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky as an observer. His conclusions, as you can read below, are sharply critical of the legal farce currently being conducted by the Russian authorities. Perhaps with statements like this from Schockenhoff and the recent Council of Europe report, Europe can finally begin to strip away the long-standing presumption of regularity and benefit of the doubt extended forward Russia's politically controlled legal system.

MP Dr. Andreas Schockenhoff, Deputy Chairman of CDU/CSU Parliamentary Faction, states:

I just observed the trial against ex-Yukos boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his partner, Platon Lebedev. Before, I had received a briefing on the course of the

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Jason Bush has a devastating piece published in BusinessWeek about the Council of Europe report on Russia's rule of law vacuum.Prosecutors accuse the ex-Yukos managers of embezzling 350 million metric tons of oil, equivalent to Yukos' entire oil output for six years. Defense lawyers and several independent legal observers have expressed bewilderment at the new claims. They note that in their previous trial, the two managers were convicted of underpaying taxes on this same output, implying that it was legal business activity. The alleged embezzlement occurred when Yukos was Russia's largest oil company and one of its most visible companies overall. Now these concerns have been echoed by the author of the Council of Europe report, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a former German Minister of Justice. "The legal justification of the new criminal cases against Mr Khodorkovsky and Mr Lebedev has me perplexed," she writes, adding that "any accusation must fulfill ...

TODAY: Medvedev meets Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and LAS in Cairo; supports idea of Middle East peace talks before year's end; Lavrov says Russian security idea is not anti-NATO; European report launches stinging attack on Russian justice systemMedvedev has announced that Moscow plans to hold a Middle East peace conference before the end of 2009, an idea supported by Egypt.  In a meeting with the League of Arab States, Medvedev commented that the peace process might result in an independent Palestine with the capital in East Jerusalem.  The BBC comments on the motivation for the trip: 'in terms of influence, Russia lags far behind China and the US - not just in Egypt but right ...

Reuters is reporting on the passage of a parliamentary motion from Chancellor Angela Merkel's party (the CDU), as well as coalition partners in the SPD, which states that the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky will be observed from Berlin as a critical measurement and test of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's promises to improve rule of law and the justice system.

"This trial is a test case of the Russian justice system's credibility, as demanded by President Medvedev, and the respect of Council of Europe standards," the paper reads.

"There is concern that the trial will be used for political goals. If this were the case, the authorities would damage not only Russia's reputation, its economy and its diplomatic ties, but above all the legal and human rights principles that Russia itself has vowed to adhere to."

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