An article by Sergei Balashov over at Russia Profile finds it suspicious that the Kremlin only paroled Svetlana Bakhmin instead of granting her pardon … meaning that perhaps there are a few more tricks left up their sleeves to continue this ravaging streak of legal nihilism against anybody remotely related to Yukos or Mikhail Khodorkovsky.  Keep in mind that this being Russia Profile, with its affiliation to state-controlled RIA Novosti, has to write these article pretending as though there is some sort of regularity to these show trial proceedings … which is really a bit absurd at this point in the game.

At the same time, it appears that Bakhmina’s premature release was not merely an act of good will toward a mother of three on the president’s behalf. The circumstances in which she was granted parole make it appear that a possible compromise was reached between Bakhmina and the authorities. “It was a result of a complex political compromise, and it’s important that she was paroled and not pardoned. Bakhmina was under considerable pressure, but there was a strong public campaign for her cause. She admitted her guilt, repented, and was released, not giving the new president the chance to pardon somebody who was put in jail by the old president,” said Ikhlov.