TODAY: Medvedev's state of the nation address warns opposition against using democracy to rock the boat; talks up modernization. Media unconvinced President can match word with deed. Topol-M problem for START replacement talks;  Litvinenko suspect Lugovoi willing to speak to London prosecutors?; is Russia really cracking down on nationalists; Putin world's third most powerful according to ForbesIn President Medvedev's second state-of-the-nation address, highlights of which can be found here, he warned opposition politicians not to use democracy as a way to 'destabilize the state and split society'. The fact that the speech emphasized long-term goals, related to cutting time zones, technology and industrial modernization, heralds a call for re-election argues one analyst, quoted in the Moscow ...

The following is a translation of an article about the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky published in the French weekly magazine, Le Nouvel Observateur.

The Convict who Frightens the Kremlin From our special correspondent in Moscow

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former head of oil company Yukos, is serving eight years in prison in Siberia. He is again judged in a trial in which the arbitrary rivals absurdity. The Russian power in the hands of Putin, does not want to see out of prison the person who was formerly the richest man in the country...

It is in this tiny and outdated courtroom No. 7 on the second floor of the Khamovnitchesky District Court of

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Kafkaesque. The former Russian oil tycoon, who stood up to Putin, is back before his judges. Here is the story. [The following is a translation of an article published in the French publication Le Point.]

Le Point, October 15, 2009

Accused Khodorkovsky, Stand Up!

From our special envoy Marc Nexon

He stands up, opens his spiral notebook and pulls out 3 sheets of paper he has scribbled with his fine handwriting. He pats the microphone installed in his glass cage. "Can you hear me?" he asks, addressing the judge. Then he starts with a clear voice: "I know that in his eyes I embody absolute evil, but I would like to ask quietly a few questions to the witness of the prosecution..."

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Well one can say a lot of things about the Russian mafia leader Vyacheslav K. Ivankov, but you wouldn't say he didn't have an impact on the country, as his funeral today brought out crowds of hundreds.  In this news clip, there are some amusing altercations between Ivankov and the media which will likely become YouTube hits, but the fact is his murder could be the catalyst for a renewed outburst of violent fighting between rival criminal groups.Back during the height of his criminal enterprise, Ivankov was arrested, tried, and sentenced to nine years in prison in the United States in 1997, where the FBI considered him one of the most powerful men in the Russian mafia.  Then, in 2004, he was extradited to Russia on murder charges, where - I am sure you guessed it - he ...

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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The following is an exclusive translation of an article about the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky published in the German newspaper Die Tageszeitung:New Version of a Russian Judicial FarcePOLITICAL PROCESS The imprisoned ex-oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his partner Platon Lebedev are in court a second time, this time for oil theft. Observer: Many laws have been violatedBy KLAUS-HELGE DONATHMOSCOW taz | The walls are falling apart, the furniture is disgusting. The Kamovnichesky Court in the center of Moscow is a place of particular misery. The years since the oil boom have passed over the justice system without a trace. It is as though the state wished to show how little it cares for those who pronounce ...

TODAY: EU chief has faith that Russia will not stand in the way of sanctions against Iran; US reproaches Russia on human rights; hope for WTO bid?  Yushchenko suggests NATO bid would receive popular backing; ethnic haters charged; new accusation for Berezovsky; chess matches and political clashes. Drama at the Bolshoi. EU foreign policy head Javier Solana has said that he does not believe that China and Russia will oppose new sanctions against Iran.  US diplomat Douglas Griffiths has told the UN Human Rights Council that 'in Russia we are concerned about killings with impunity of human rights defenders and journalists in the North Caucasus'.  First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has said that Russia ...

This just came over the air from Svetlana Gubanova at Echo Moskvy with regard to the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev:

"For any Muscovite or visitor to the Russian capital, they say, it has become a sign of good taste not only to visit the Tretyakov Gallery and stroll around Red Square but also to spend some time, sitting in room 7 at 21, 7th Rostovsky Street. This is where the Khamovnichesky district court holds its hearings. We recommend you to pay a visit since these are the last days that the prosecutors are reading out their evidence."

Catherine Belton has just published an article in the Financial Times which features a first-time interview with the former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov revealing "a closed-door conversation he claims he had with Vladimir Putin in which the then president revealed political motives for the state's legal pursuit of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the jailed former Yukos tycoon."Excerpt below:

Throwing his backing behind Mr Khodorkovsky's suit in the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Kasyanov said he had laid out in an affidavit filed to the court in Strasbourg last week Mr Putin's explanation in July 2003 for the rising state pressure on Mr Khodorkovsky and his Yukos oil company.

"He told me Khodorkovsky...was financing the Communist party without his agreement," Mr Kasyanov told the FT.

Mr Kasyanov

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Stephen Blank has an interesting new article on Forbes in which he assesses the economic damage being caused by Russia's inability to effectively reduce legal nihilism and corruption, both of which are dragging on the country's attempt to recover from the crisis.  Sticking out like a sore thumb is of course the second trial of Mikhail Khdorkovsky, which will be in full session during the first state visit of President Barack Obama.  Blank describes the Khodorkovsky trial as a "palpable judicial farce," and if President Dmitry Medvedev is unable to take action to solve the situation it will "confirm the widespread belief that he is merely a tool of his predecessor, a placeholder until Putin resumes the presidency."

When he was a candidate to lead Russia, Dmitry Medvedev denounced the country's "legal nihilism." Now, as president, he has often spoken

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