Following Khodorkovsky’s August 6 Supreme Court appeal hearing, which resulted in a 2-month reduction in his sentence from 11 years to 10 years and 10 months, Khodorkovsky’s mother was interviewed by Russian magazine Sobesednik.

An excerpt of the interview is translated below; the full version in Russian can be found HERE.

Sobesednik: What particularly caught your eye in court?

M. Khodorkovskaya: My husband and I came there to see our son. Misha was clearly visible on a huge screen, which stayed switched on throughout the entire hearing.

Regarding what was happening in the courtroom, I was particularly struck by the way the judges behaved.  None of them listened to the lawyers.  Some openly struggled with sleep, some were flipping through the papers on the table.  I knew then that whatever Misha’s lawyers were saying, the judges didn’t really need their arguments. In my opinion they are just newscasters in black robes.

The prosecutor was also an interesting character – she just said “all is right” (about the charges) and sat back down.

Next to her was a representative of the Federal Agency for State Property Management – she agreed with the prosecutor.  I was told that after the hearing she explained to some journalists that she found the lawyer’s arguments to be reasonable. But, even so, she represents the government…That is the picture we have here.