Khodorkovsky Won't Be Diminished by Jail

By Boris Nadezhdin

The reading of the verdict in the trial of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky is dragging on with no end in sight. The court will likely declare him guilty.

Yet in all fairness Khodorkovsky should be acquitted. This would be the only way for the Russian courts to save face. A guilty verdict will deal a major blow to the reputation of the Russian authorities. It will further damage the image of Russia's judicial system. Already, the case has seriously influenced the country's political and business elite. They now have far fewer illusions about President Vladimir Putin.

If we examine the legal basis for the charges against Khodorkovsky and his colleagues, we see that the accusations of tax evasion were based on official tax declarations that Khodorkovsky's companies submitted to the authorities over the course of many years. Moreover, during this entire period -- until, of course, the case was opened against Khodorkovsky -- these declarations were acknowledged as correct and legal. If there is someone who should be blamed for any violations or irregularities, it is the tax authorities.

In any case, hundreds of thousands of businesspeople used tax optimization schemes similar to those Khodorkovsky employed, such as moving to an "individual entrepreneur" basis. For this reason, there can be no doubt that Khodorkovsky has been singled out and that the law is being applied selectively.


Indeed, the case against Khodorkovsky is purely political. It is being used to teach businesspeople a lesson. This is, after all, the trial of Russia's wealthiest entrepreneurs. This is the trial of one of the few businessmen who was not afraid to demonstrate his political stance openly. He publicly announced his support of opposition parties, including the Union of Right Forces, or SPS, and Yabloko. Finally, the trial is a campaign against the country's biggest oil company, a financially transparent corporation that stood out from the crowd. By doing this, the authorities are trying to scare other businesspeople and neutralize a potential political opponent.

Yet whether he wants to or not, Russia's biggest businessman will continue to play a role in Russian politics. Khodorkovsky will remain a major symbol for the opposition even if behind bars.

At the same time, his political future will be his own personal choice. I hope that a long prison sentence, if it comes, will not break his spirit and that he will keep his desire to engage in public activism. If he does, he could become one of the main leaders of Russia's political opposition.


Boris Nadezhdin, secretary of the SPS presidium, contributed this comment to The Moscow Times.

(The Moscow Times, 5.19.2005)