From Russia Profile, Ethan Burger’s contribution to the debate:

There is no doubt that the Russian authorities conducted what amounted to a “show trial” against Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The Russian prosecution does not usually place on the Internet a detailed description of the crimes that a criminal allegedly committed prior to trial. Clearly, such actions were prejudicial. What was surprising was the poor quality of the case presented– it stated conclusions rather than convincing present facts.

In my view, Khodorkovsky’s greatest offense was that he did not show sufficient respect for Russian president Putin, and failed to understand the president’s objectives. In ancient Greece, hubris was a crime. The Russian Criminal Code does not identify either hubris or arrogance as a crime. Despite the efforts of Khodorkovsky’s courageous defense team, as well as the world’s human rights community, the fact that this principle was not followed did not matter.