Dec 31, 2010 18:07 Moscow Time

http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/12/31/38442514.html

The Moscow Khamovnichesky Court extended on Thursday the prison sentence of former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev until 2017. Many Western countries have already expressed frustration over what they called a far too severe punishment for the two men who were found guilty of embezzlement and money-laundering.

In a statement on Friday, the French Foreign Ministry specifically warned Russian authorities against backsliding on human rights, something that was echoed by European Parliament President Erzy Buzek. German Chancellor Angela Merkel used sterner language by saying that the politically motivated Khodorkovsky case flies in the face of Russia’s regular pledges to stick to the rule of law.

The West has repeatedly tried to politicize the matter, pointing the finger at the Kremlin, which, Western media said, allegedly meddled in the court procedure and put pressure on judges.

The Russian Foreign Ministry cautioned against a similar approach, which Moscow says is nothing but interference in an other country’s domestic affairs. All the more so that embezzlement and money-laundering are crimes punishable by up to life in prison in the United States, for example.

Thursday’s verdict got mixed reaction in Russia, where many insisted on bringing to justice all those involved in murky deals in the early 1990s. Dmitry Babich, a Moscow-based political analyst, warned against such a stance, which he said added significantly to Western media’s biased coverage of the Khodorkovsky case.

Babich is echoed by Sergei Markov, of the Institute for Political Studies, a Moscow think tank.

"The Khodorkovsky case mirrors the political turmoil in Russia in the early 1990s, Markov says, calling Khodorkovsky one of this country’s most influential persons at the time. He started from scratch, but then managed to earn billions of dollars not thinking twice before being on the wrong side of the law, Markov says. Others also did so amid the state’s efforts to tighten screws and prod Russian oligarchs to make money consulting with the powers that be. Three tycoons voiced protest, Markov says, citing Gusinsky, Berezovsky and Khodorkovsky who tried to openly lock horns with the state instead of fleeing Russia as Gusinsky and Berezovsky did."

On Friday, Mikhail Fedotov, head of the Russian Presidential Human Rights Council, urged the creation of a working group specifically aimed to deal with the December 30 verdict on Khodorkovsky.

"The working group will handle a wide range of judicial issues pertaining to the Khodorkovsky case, which may help make relevant amendments to Russia’s legislation in the future, Fedotov explains. Generally speaking, creating working groups dealing with high profile cases has been not uncommon for the Presidential Human Rights Council over the past few years, he concludes."

Meanwhile, Khodorkovsky’s lawyers lodged a complaint on Friday in a sign that the case is yet to be completed…