Catherine Belton has just published an article in the Financial Times which features a first-time interview with the former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov revealing "a closed-door conversation he claims he had with Vladimir Putin in
which the then president revealed political motives for the state's
legal pursuit of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the jailed former Yukos tycoon."Excerpt below:
Throwing his backing behind Mr Khodorkovsky's suit in the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Kasyanov said he had laid out in an affidavit filed to the court in Strasbourg last week Mr Putin's explanation in July 2003 for the rising state pressure on Mr Khodorkovsky and his Yukos oil company.
"He told me Khodorkovsky...was financing the Communist party without his agreement," Mr Kasyanov told the FT.
Mr Kasyanov said he had pressed Mr Putin for an explanation many times about the July 2003 arrest of Platon Lebedev, Mr Khodorkovsky's closest associate, and about mounting state pressure on Mr Khodorkovsky as prosecutors began to investigate tax fraud claims.
Mr Putin had refused to answer, he said, but at one point in July 2003 in a private meeting inside Mr Putin's office in the Kremlin Palace, the president told him that Mr Khodorkovsky had crossed a line by financing the communists without his permission even as he was financing the liberal Yabloko and Union of Right Forces parties in line with Kremlin orders. "He did not say any more." (...)
Mr Kasyanov's statement could add weight to Mr Khodorkovsky's appeal against the Russian government in the European Court of Human Rights claiming that his arrest in 2003 was politically motivated.
Indeed, Russia's recovery, demographically ans as a power, required breaking the political power of the Oligarchs. One can imagine the consequences for Russia if, instead of being carefully taxed away and held back for a rainy day, the oil financial windfall had been left in Oligarchic hands and leveraged 30-1.
Umm, maybe I'm being nosy but don't you guys care to say whether in fact M.K. WAS financing communists or not, and if so why?
RKKA:
You are one demented little freak.
First of all, according to Putin there was not supposed to BE any "rainy day." Russia was supposed to be a safe harbor. That's how he could justify massive spending on Russia' military (while ignoring questions about why Russia's infrastructure and demographic ills received no money).
Second, this issue has nothing to do with taking Khodorkovsky's MONEY, but his LIBERTY, you idiot.
Third, Putin DID leave LOTS of money in the hands of Kremlin-friendly oligarchs, they DID leverage it, and they DID lose everything. Don't you read at all?
I find your ignorance and lies really infuriating. They make Russia look like a nation of illiterate beasts.
Phoby, Phoby, Phoby....
Russia's military spending is a modest 3.9% of GNP, less than the US at 4.06%.
So, heah, Phoby lies a lot.
RKKA:
You are a true psychopath!
What does US spending have to do with RUSSIAN spending? Does the Russian budget get bigger because the USA spends money? You are a deranaged lunatic babbling utter nonsense.
I never made any claim about US military spending or compared the US to Russia because it has NOTHING to do with the issues at hand. For you to accuse me of lying about facts I NEVER MENTIONED is indicative of your ridiculously dishonest, crazed propaganda tactics, and is simply hilarious. However, if you think that the US and Russia are equally qualified to spend 4% of GDP on military, you are certifiably insane. The standard of living in the US is far higher than in Russia, it can far better afford such expenses.
Russia has a massive demographic crisis. It doesn't rank in the top 150 NATIONS OF THE WORLD for lifespan, its roads are falling apart, and it has double-digit inflation and unemployment. IT CAN'T AFFORD to spend 1% of GDP, much less 4%, on the military, yet Putin says it can because the Russian economy is a booming safe harbor with NO RAINY DAYS. That's the point, you ignoramus.
Trying to change the subject when you've lost is childish and ridiculous. Nobody will take you remotely seriously if you continue such antics.
Phoby, Phoby, Phoby....
The fact is, Russia's defense spending is not 'massive". Neither is Russia's demographic crisis. To find a true demographic crisis, go to US-oriented Ukraine or the US-oriented Baltic States. Latvia is especially impressive as the Latvian government hangs the Latvian people on a Cross of Euros.
And Phoby dear, your childish, fact-free rants are more a source of amusement than enlightenment.