Crisis in the Power Vertical

From Brian Whitmore at RFE/RL:

“The very fact that they transferred Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to Moscow demonstrates that there is a crisis in the power vertical,” says political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky, director of the Moscow-based National Strategy Institute.

“The Kremlin and those behind the Khodorkovsky case — mainly Igor Sechin — don’t trust the court in Chita and they don’t trust their ability to control the courts in the regions,” Belkovsky says. “Therefore they the two accused to the Khamovnichesky Court [in Moscow], where they think they have more control.”