RA Letter to the Guardian

Today the Guardian has published a letter from Robert Amsterdam in response to Jonathan Steele’s opinion article “Putin’s legacy is a Russia that doesn’t have to curry favour with the west,” published Tuesday, Sept. 18. Guardian:

The solution to Jonathan Steele’s “puzzle” as to why the Russian government feels the need for excessive political control is simple. The level of state theft and corruption in Russia is unparalleled in its history. Putin’s regime has overseen the destruction of freedom of the press, created a new generation of political prisoners and made a mockery of the rule of law. If Mr Steele was to review the recent OECD and World Bank reports, the latter of which placed Russia on par with Zimbabwe in terms of governance standards, he will find Russia’s decay under Putin is well documented. Robert Amsterdam Partner, Amsterdam & Peroff, and counsel to Mikhail Khodorkovsky