Bakhmina’s Parole and the Glass Half Full

The Other Russia has posted some translations of reactions to the parole of Yukos lawyer and mother of three Svetlana Bakhmina, including commentary from Lev Ponomarev, Valentina Melnikova, and  Grigory Chkhartishvili (Boris Akunin).  Below is what Viktor Shenderovich had to say:

Thank God that this happened.  But then comes the question – what are we measuring against?  If we measure against the norms of a civilized European country, then this happened with terrible red tape, after torturous efforts from the public, with a great deafness on the part of authorities, and so forth.  If we measure against Uzbekistan or something along those lines, or even the recent unipolar-Putinist times, when absolutely no one was pardoned and no one was released… then this can be seen as progress.  The glass is either half full or half empty.  I, perhaps, will consider it half full.  It’s better this way.