Why the Cases Against Yukos and Khodorkovsky Don’t Make Sense

Rather succinctly stated by Karinna Moskalenko, a lawyer for Mikhail Khodorkovsky, in the New Times:

“If through its representatives Russia insists that the bankruptcy of Yukos was lawfully implemented, and that the taxes demanded from Yukos for the oil it produced were legal, the question remains, Why is Khodorkovsky on trial today at the Khamovnichesky district court? It will mean that he was indeed engaged in lawful activities and paid taxes, though the State considers he did not pay enough. How then could he have stolen that oil?”