The Obama administration said it was "deeply concerned" about a Russian court's decision to convict former oil mogul Mikhail Khodorkovsky for a second time after a trial marred by legal irregularities and allegations of political interference by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
In a statement just hours after the guilty verdict was announced in a packed Moscow courtroom, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that the administration was "troubled by the allegations of serious due-process violations, and what appears to be an abusive use of the legal system for improper ends.
"The Russian government cannot nurture a modern economy without also developing an independent judiciary that serves as an instrument for furthering economic growth, ensuring equal treatment under the law, and advancing justice in a predictable and fair way," Gibbs said. "Russia's failure to keep this commitment to universal values, including the rule of law, impedes its own modernization and ability to deepen its ties with the United States."
The White House's harsh public criticism of the Khodorkovsky trial is virtually certain to anger Putin and could threaten the broader U.S. push to improve its relationship with Russia, one of the administration's top foreign-policy goals.
But the wording of the White House statement--which praised Russian President Dmitry Medvedev by name for his "important campaign to strengthen the rule of law"--seemed carefully chosen. Obama has worked to build a close personal relationship with Medvedev, whom some American officials see as a potential counterweight to Putin, and the White House's comments about the verdict were likely designed to drive more of a wedge between the two Russian leaders.
The comments from Gibbs echoed similar remarks from an array of European leaders, who roundly condemned the verdict and said it raised real doubts about when--or if--the rule of law would apply in Putin's Russia. Richard Ottaway, who chairs the British Parliament’s select committee on foreign affairs, said in a statement that the verdict would have "serious implications for the confidence of overseas investors and on British investment in Russia."
The Khodorkovsky case has long been seen as a bellwether for Russia's judiciary. Once one of the country's richest men, Khodorkovsky was arrested by Russian commandos shortly after publicly criticizing Putin and suggesting that he might enter Russian politics to challenge the Putin's increasingly autocratic rule. He and a former business partner, Platon Lebedev, were convicted of fraud and tax evasion in 2005 and were sentenced to eight years in prison. The assets of their company, Yukos Oil, were seized and sold to a state-owned firm for pennies on the dollar.
The new guilty verdict, this time on charges of embezzlement, could keep the two men in prison for seven more years, though both are certain to appeal. Lawyers for the two men are already pointing to legal irregularities in the decision. Interfax, for example, reported today that the court found Khodorkovsky and Lebedev guilty of stealing more money than had been alleged by Russian prosecutors. Other critics of the trial noted that Putin praised Khodorkovsky's 2005 conviction earlier this month and told a radio show that "a thief should sit in jail." Medvedev condemned Putin's remarks at the time, but they were widely seen as effectively guaranteeing another conviction.
U.S. officials, in their private communications, have long seen today's verdict as inevitable. In a 2007 State Department cable unearthed by WikiLeaks, an unnamed source quoted by a U.S. embassy official in Moscow said that the charges against Khodorkovsky were "politically motivated" and "orchestrated entirely by the Kremlin."
"Khodorkovsky would likely remain in prison as long as the Putin administration is in power," the cable concluded, quoting the same source.
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