A very, very important article in the Moscow Times, wherein numerous third parties echo our views on the injustice being currently perpetrated by the Russian authorities in the case against Mikhail Khodorkovsky:

But an examination by The Moscow Times of the publicly available information and interviews with independent lawyers raise questions about the legal soundness of the case, including whether the state is violating double jeopardy rules by trying a defendant twice for the same crime.

“I don’t really understand how it is possible to charge one person for the same thing twice,” said lawyer Yury Gervis, who is not involved in the case. “But the Prosecutor General’s Office often fulfills orders from above with the ‘as you say’ principle.”

Khodorkovsky and his supporters say his legal troubles are punishment from the Kremlin for his political and commercial ambitions. The Kremlin denies this.

“Neither the president nor any one else has a right to interfere in that situation,” President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview aired by the BBC on Sunday.

He said Khodorkovsky’s fate will hang completely on the court’s decision.