February 6, 2008 By James Kimer

Financial Times Gives Wide Coverage to Khodorkovsky Case

khodorkovsky020608.jpgIn tomorrow’s edition of the Financial Times there is remarkable coverage given to the latest developments in the Khodorkovsky case. After the jump, some of the articles. Comments will be forthcoming from Robert Amsterdam. The lead editorial argues the following: “The former oil tycoon describes himself as a political prisoner. Certainly the way he has been treated – in contrast to his fellow oligarchs who have scrupulously avoided playing politics – suggests that he is right. In Russia, politics is about a struggle for power, and Mr Putin holds sway. He is ruthless, even vindictive. The danger for Mr Putin is that he could turn the unpopular oligarch into a political martyr. In his interview with the Financial Times, Mr Khodorkovsky suggests that the absence of any independent rule of law in Russia is the critical failure of the Putin regime. In the short term, of course, it is Mr Putin’s success: that is why Mr Khodorkovsky is behind bars. But in the long term the ex-tycoon is right: no prosperous market economy or fair society can flourish without the rule of law. That is a lesson foreign investors must heed.

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