The Moscow Times has published a new compelling, powerful, and overwhelmingly urgent editorial condemning the Russian government’s blackmail against Yukos prisoner Vasily Alexanyan – a crass exercise of denying life-saving medical care in order to force false testimony against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other political prisoners. As this courageous man lies on his deathbed and the wider world remains silent, we can be sure that the procuracy is demonstrating exactly how much they can get away with. It is a categorically odious action by any humanitarian standards, regardless of one’s opinion about the Yukos case or the direction of the current Russian government. The Moscow Times:

Monday, January 28, 2008. Issue 3829. Page 10. Abusing a Dying Man’s Legal Rights No, he has not been sentenced to life in prison. In fact, he has not even been convicted of anything. He has AIDS and is not receiving proper treatment while awaiting trial in a detention facility on fraud and tax evasion charges. Prosecutors and judges have deemed it appropriate to keep this gravely ill man behind bars, and one prosecutor even found nothing wrong with disclosing Vasily Aleksanyan’s condition, blatantly violating his right to privacy.