Russia joins executive board of UN Women

ICJU head calls for journalist congress after attack on Russian reporter

Secretary General of the International Confederation of Journalists’ Unions, Russia, Ashot Dzhazoyan has called for an emergency congress of the journalist community following the attack on the Russian reporter Oleg Kashin.

 “Government and law enforcement officials should be invited to the congress,” Dzhazoyan said in an interview.

He welcomed a proposal to tighten punishment for attacks on journalists but complained that in most cases the attackers go unpunished.

Investigators to renew journalist attack case

Russian Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin ordered a new probe into a 2008 attack on a Russian journalist, a committee spokesman said on Thursday.

In November 2008, Mikhail Beketov, the editor-in-chief of the Khimkinskaya Pravda newspaper, was severely beaten by unidentified attackers. He is now severely brain damaged and confined to a wheelchair.

The case was frozen in mid-September because investigators were unable to identify and charge any suspects.

MOSCOW, November 11 (RIA Novosti) 

‘Mandela Moment’ Awaits Russia in Yukos Trial: Julian Rimmer

Commentary by Julian Rimmer

Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The jury is out, or at least it would be if there was one. Fascinated or appalled, Russia and the world await the verdict in the latest trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former owner of Yukos Oil Co. His fate now lies in the hands of Judge Viktor Danilkin.

Few doubt the court’s independence of thought will be compromised by the Kremlin and how it decides to handle this cause celebre. Khodorkovsky, who was sentenced in 2005 to nine years in a Siberian labor camp for fraud and had his prison time reduced by one year on appeal, has become a focal point for liberal dissent in Russia and critical opposition abroad.

Government officials are desperate to be rid of the former oligarch, whose vast wealth and increasing political influence led to his arrest in 2003 after a falling-out with then President Vladimir Putin. Whatever course of action they take, he won’t go away quietly. The judge is scheduled to begin handing down his verdict on Dec. 15.

Should they free Khodorkovsky, it’s unlikely he would maintain airwave silence. If, as Khodorkovsky predicted in his closing statement to the court, he is sentenced to an additional six years on embezzlement and money laundering charges, he will symbolize something deeply troubling about modern Russia.

President Dmitry Medvedev doesn’t need his legal background to be aware that the judicial process throughout the “Affair Khodorkovsky” has been less than satisfactory. He also should know that Russia may be facing a “Mandela moment” of sorts.

Fight for Freedom

The analogy to Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned for 27 years under South Africa’s apartheid regime, may seem like a stretch. There are no similarities in the path they trod to incarceration, and the causes they championed were diametrically opposed. Mandela was fighting for freedom from a racist government. Khodorkovsky was mostly concerned with personal enrichment and is hardly viewed as a flower of liberty.

But the two cases illustrate defining moments for two nations that struggled to adopt democracy and the rule of law.

At this stage, Khodorkovsky poses a nuisance to Putin, as is evident from the prime minister’s reaction every time he is asked about the case. Yet if prosecutors succeed in imprisoning Khodorkovsky and his co-defendant, Platon Lebedev, for another term, their profile will undoubtedly be raised.

Martyr Status

Supporters of the defendants have been courting the Western media and ensuring Khodorkovsky receives mostly sympathetic press. These days, Russian leaders no longer have the option of eliminating someone in Siberia, and they will be wary of conferring martyr status on the former oil tycoon. They must also consider the prospect that they may have to go through the whole travesty again when his next parole is due. Khodorkovsky can’t be gagged indefinitely.

His case also serves as a political barometer to investors in Russia. At this juncture, the government can’t afford to alienate international capital through another public-relations disaster. At a price/earnings ratio of less than 10, Russian stocks trade at a hefty discount, compared with 12.5 for Turkey and 14 for Brazil. The nation aims to plug its budget deficit with the help of an ambitious $50 billion privatization process that will require the support of global fund managers.

Unusually for currencies considered viable for the carry trade that has characterized emerging-market investment, the ruble has fallen 2 percent against the U.S. dollar this year, and Russia’s economic recovery has been more sluggish than its trading partners. Russia also fell eight places in Transparency International’s 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index to rank 156th (alongside Tajikistan and Kenya). This is hardly the direction President Medvedev meant to take his country.

Back to Gulag

Russia must tackle these issues, and dispatching Khodorkovsky back to the gulag will only intensify international criticism, jeopardizing Russia’s modernization program. Sending him on a long walk to freedom may be galling for Putin, but compromise may be unavoidable.

The furor over another conviction would surely cast a cloud over the presidential election campaign for 2012 and overshadow Medvedev’s efforts to project a better image for Russia. He has taken up the cause of modernizing Russia, just like Peter the Great did; has shaken hands with world leaders; posted messages on Twitter; and lifted weights with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also launched the high-tech research hub of Skolkovo, near the capital, and sacked Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, often viewed as the embodiment of Russian cronyism.

Soccer Bid

Mindful of the fillip given to Brazil’s economy when that country won the right to host the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, Medvedev and Putin have enthusiastically endorsed Russia’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup. The event would provide a boost to national self-esteem, but it’s hard to see this happening with the backdrop of renewed hostilities with the Western media over Russia’s most notorious prisoner.

There are signs of late that the kopek has dropped and that the Russian leadership has grasped the importance of international public relations. The stage management of Khodorkovsky’s second prosecution has been as clumsy as his first one. It is doubtful if Khodorkovsky will ever be proven unequivocally guilty of anything, except perhaps hubris.

The South African regime once viewed Mandela as a terrorist. Now they think of him as a savior. It’s too much to think the same could ever be thought of Khodorkovsky but a politically savvy display of leniency might be the catalyst for a softer, hopey-changey feel to government in Russia.

For the most high-profile casualty of Putin’s refusal to brook dissent it may be a long walk to freedom or a long walk back to Siberia. It’s a long walk somewhere.

(Julian Rimmer is a trader at CF Global Trading in London. The opinions expressed are his own. His firm or clients may own or trade securities discussed in this column.)

To contact the writer of this column: Julian Rimmer at jrimmer1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this column: James Greiff at jgreiff@bloomberg.net