Mikhael Gorbachev has penned an article in the New York Times reflecting on how the period since the fall of the Berlin Wall (the 20th anniversary of which will be celebrated on Friday) has not necessarily heralded a less distrustful approach to Russia.  He cites the open letter to  to Barack Obama by Vaclav Havel and other European luminaries in September, counseling the US President to take a firm stand on Russia, and the OSCE resolution equating Stalinism and Nazism as moves demonstrating that latent russophobia is still hampering unity in Europe.To my regret, the events took a different course. This has stalled the emergence of a new Europe. Instead of the old dividing lines, new ones have ...

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It is in this tiny and outdated courtroom No. 7 on the second floor of the Khamovnitchesky District Court of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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This story about a kompromat sex tape made of a U.S. diplomat in Russia is spreading like wildfire across the internets.  Kyle Hatcher, a relatively young diplomat posted to the U.S. Embassy to liaise with religious groups in Russia, was allegedly filmed in a hotel room, and then the tape cuts to someone in the act with an alleged prostitute.  The full tape has lots of added extras, like alleged tapped phone calls and very bad synthesizer saxophone music to sleaze it up.So far, everything looks far from accidental.  The video was posted up to the same web site which had previously used a kompromat sex tape to discredit and eliminate James Hudson of the ...

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: Medvedev firm on realignment of Caucasus; pledges support for the breakaway territories; details of Cyxymu hacking case emerge.  Justice for Politkovskaya meets obstacles; Kadyrov shows little love for Estemirova; Putin celebrates ten years in power.  Helicopters, cars and cops. 'Last year's events have finally redrawn the political map of the Caucasus' said President Medvedev, awarding medals at a war in Georgia commemoration service.  Medvedev has promised to develop 'full-fledged relations with South Ossetia and Abkhazia, regardless of whether somebody likes it or not'.  According to the President, Georgia has not stopped threatening to regain its 'territorial integrity' by force.  He has pledged to continue to provide South Ossetia with social, economic and military ...

Here is an extract from a piece in the Financial Times:

A comprehensive peace in the northern Caucasus would require long-term policies to win over the non-Russian peoples through political and social inclusion and economic development, and stabilise the whole region.

This would take years. But one move Mr Medvedev could make now would be to show he really does intend to apply the rule of law in the northern Caucasus by bringing to justice Ms Estemirova's killers. That would mean pursuing not only those who pulled the trigger but those who ordered the execution. Memorial, the human rights group with which Ms Estemirova was working, has blamed Mr Kadyrov. He denies the charge. Mr Medvedev could show he is serious by appointing a prosecutor to investigate fully Memorial's claim.

Ms Estemirova's colleagues fear there is not the slightest chance this will happen because Mr Medvedev has already dismissed claims of Mr Kadyrov's responsibility. The ...

Here's a peculiar story from the Moscow Times:

Sergei Kuznetsov Content Group, one of the biggest Russian web studios, has opened a contest called "Drawing the Court" that invites anyone to submit drawings of Khodorkovsky's trial, which started in March in Moscow's Khamovnichesky District Court.

There is only one rule: The artist must draw the artwork in court.(...)

The contest aims to raise interest in Russian court processes and provide a showcase for courtroom art, an obscure genre in Russia, according to the contest's web site, Risuemsud.ru.

The first drawings have been posted on the web site and include three pencil sketches by Svetlana Sorokina, a former liberal commentator with NTV television. One sketch, titled "Tired," shows a prosecutor with closed eyes and a drooping mouth sitting at his table in

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Dmitry Solovyov's article on the Russian military's conscription program in the Moscow Times is beyond words, especially the detail about Anton Kuznetsov.  Anyone who can find more info on that story, just let us know ... I only see the state media attempting to discredit Kuznetsov as a traitor gone AWOL."I hate to say this, but in fact such a conscription with numerous violations calls this reform into question, if not spells the death of it," said Sergei Krivenko, coordinator of the public movement Citizen and the Army. Human rights bodies say even young men with criminal records were drafted this year. Official data show 471 Russians died while serving last year, 29 more than in 2007. More than half of all deaths last year were suicides, often caused by the deep-rooted tradition of hazing, when older soldiers bully and humiliate younger ones....

The Financial Times has published some comments from Mikhail Khodorkovsky requesting President Barack Obama's support for rule of law in Russia during the state visit.

In comments to the Financial Times relayed over the weekend, Mr Khodorkovsky called on Mr Obama to throw his support behind an independent court system in Russia.

He said Russia was now facing a "moment of truth" when it could choose between building a modern innovative economy and civil society or a "fortress of raw materials" and authoritarianism.

"The independence of the courts is a necessary point of support for making the right strategic choice for building a really modern society and legal state," Mr Khodorkovsky said.

"Despite the fact that I have already spent almost six years in jail and now I am threatened with a new unjust sentence . . . I wish my country makes the right

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