First we had the positive decision for Manana Aslamazyan yesterday, and now this … dare we feel optimistic? I may have to stop using the word “rare” so often. From AP:

A judge’s call of interference holds hope for Russia’s troubled justice system MOSCOW (AP) – It was a rare moment in the politically charged, corruption-tainted world of Russian justice: A senior judge from a top court testified that she was pressured by a Kremlin bureaucrat. The unlikely drama, played out in a Moscow courtroom this month, cast a ray of hope for change under a new president who says cleaning up the compromised justice system is crucial to Russia’s future.