A great story on one of Russia’s greatest lawyers, Stanislav Markelov, on the front page of the Wall Street Journal today.

In Russia, lawyers who defend the weak can find themselves on the firing line. Mr. Markelov’s murder contrasts starkly with a simple promise Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is making. Last weekend, the president delivered a national address renewing his pledge to restore the rule of law and end Russia’s culture of “legal nihilism.”

Russia’s rule-of-law crisis takes many forms. A few days from now, former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky — as recently as 2004, Russia’s richest man — goes on trial for fraud in what his supporters claim is political persecution. His real offense, they say, was to oppose former President Vladimir Putin. (…)