In Washington DC this week I had the opportunity to meet with the political analyst Andrei Piontkovsky, the survivor of a political trial, the author of some great books about Russia, and a current analyst for the Hudson Institute.  Among other notable facts, Piontkovsky predicted the current “thaw” between the United States and Russia (at least as expressed by the recent Hagel-Hart initiative), and is arguing that the strange, controversial photograph of Putin meeting Ronald Reagan is a fake. Below I am reposting the text of an article that Piontkovsky published last Dec. 10, 2008 titled “The Thaw from Below” about the outcome of his extremism trial (first published on Grani.ru, then translated by The Other Russia).  Though slightly dated, there are interesting insights into how political cases work that can bring some understanding to the Mikhail Khodorkovsky case and to the situation of freedom of expression under a repressive state.

The significance of the Basmanny court’s December 5, 2008 decision, or more precisely, the Russian Federal Center’s legal expertise which preordained it, goes far beyond the bounds of my case.

The FSB [Federal Security Service] and the prosecutors, armed with a new law on extremism, were trying to hold a show trial and create a precedent of criminal prosecution for criticism of the authorities.

The highly professional and academically reasoned report by Andrei Smirnov, Olga Kukushkina and Yulia Safonova, which found no signs of extremism in my harsh criticism of the country’s president, knocked this “avenging sword” from the hands of the repressive agencies. And for a long time, I hope.