Following the judgment by the European Court of Human Rights last week, a number of international political figures have condemned the political nature of the trial and called on the Russian authorities to release Khodorkovsky and Lebedev:

British Ambassador to Russia 2004-2008(during Khodorkovsky’s first trial), Sir Tony Brenton
“It is good that the Court acknowledges the serious procedural violations in Khodorkovsky’s first trial – that the trial wasn’t fair, and that it was unlawful to send Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to camps in Siberia.  As previously, the Court has taken a very cautious approach regarding the political motivations of the charges. But on a practical level it is very clear that the Khodorkovsky case is politically motivated.”

German Human Rights Commissioner, Markus Loening
“The European Court of Human Rights has today again found that Khodorkovsky and Lebedev have not received a fair trial in Russia. They could not exercise their rights as defendants. Therefore, the two should be released immediately! The ruling confirms a lack of rule of law for the 2004/2005 trial. The countless current proceedings against dissidents show that the situation of law has not improved since then. Russia must now finally meet its obligations arising out of its membership at the Council of Europe.”

German Foreign Minister, Markus Meckel
“The first trial was about the overall context of Yukos at the time, and even that was clearly political in my opinion. But when you look at the second trial, where the accusation was that millions of cubic meters of oil had been embezzled and billions of dollars, then the whole thing is such an absurd idea that one cannot even imagine it, and the only way to look at it is politically. So I really think, the judgment is to put it mildly, less than optimal, and in my opinion, we must try to newly re-put it into the appropriate political context in which it belongs.”

German Justice Minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger
“Khodorkovsky Judgment of the ECtHR # demands change of policy away from the Sovietization in Russia!”