Statements of Support (2003-2013) / Dr Schockenhoff, Andreas

“Today’s guilty verdict against the two defendants confirmed the concern that this process is not subject to the rule of law, to which Russia has committed. In the first trial, the defendants were convicted of tax evasion; in the second process Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were accused of having stolen money from their own companies. The two defendants therefore have been convicted in the same matter twice, but with contradictory explanations. After the pre-sentencing remarks of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin about the Khodorkovsky case a different verdict of the judge could not be expected. This adds to the already long existing impression that this is a politically motivated trial and conviction. It is therefore to be expected that in his reasoning the judge is looking for a way to keep Khodorkovsky also in custody over the 2012 presidential election”

Dr Andreas Schockenhoff MEP Germany (Conservative Party), Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Faction & Coordinator of German-Russian Intersocietal Cooperation, December 2010