In the Guardian’s Comment is Free, Mark McDonald writes “As a human rights lawyer, I was shocked to hear of the plight of Vasily Alexanyan. In 2006, just three days after he was appointed an executive vice president of the Russian oil giant, Yukos, he was arrested on charges of embezzlement and money laundering.” McDonald laments that we have arrived to a point where everyone’s expectations of Russia’s adherence to law has “dipped so low that the common response to this tale is, “well, that’s Russia.” An important and timely article after the jump.