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The Khodorkovsky-Lebedev verdict and the West's response
Author: Dimitri K. Simes, Nixon Center president, editor of The National Interest
Summary prepared by Hayk Sargsyan of CDI

The imprisonment of Mikhail Khodorkovsky had a thoroughly negative impact on the image of Russia's leaders in the United States. Official responses varied. Some were considerate (as in the responses of President George W. Bush and the US State Department - expressing their concerns about the trial in Russia, but reiterating the US Administration retains its interest in Russia as a partner).

Others, in the US Congress and some media outlets, were predictably much more critical. Some critics, such as Tom Lantos, recommended reviewing US-Russian relations and expelling the Russian Federation from the G8. Not a single prominent politician in the United States welcomed the sentences given to Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev.

It is not clear, however, what the American reactions would have been had the trial of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev ended in their freedom or a milder sentence. Repute of the Russian justice in the eyes of the American being what it is, acquittal of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev would have been viewed as a concession to the American pressure rather than a triumph of Russian justice, or something that would have restored democratic Russia's respect and legitimacy.

Acquittal would have displayed weakness of Putin's government and justified decisions to put it under a more formidable pressure in other domestic and international affairs. To some extent, the Kremlin was in a no-lose situation in the matter of Khodorkovsky's and Lebedev's verdict.

It is difficult for the Americans to sort out all details of the Khodorkovsky trial, because of the differences between legal procedures in the United States and Russia. For example, Bush referred to the fact that Khodorkovsky had spent many months in prison before being sentenced. This led Bush to believe that the authorities of Russia had branded Khodorkovsky guilty long before the verdict. In fact, pre-trial imprisonment is widely used in Russia, much more than in the United States. In America, this measure is almost never applied in cases of economic crimes. It is mostly used to prevent mafia bosses from blackmailing or bribing witnesses, but neither Khodorkovsky nor Lebedev were charged with anything mafia-related.

The problems Putin outlined in his latest address to parliament are among the reasons behind this skepticism about Moscow. With its national economy becoming stronger, Moscow is less dependent on foreign loans, and no longer listens to the West as attentively as it used to; and that is another reason. Some Americans even claim that this kind of Russia, self-assured and confident, cannot be a partner for the United States. Moreover, a great many powerful people in the United States have already formed an opinion of Russia as a country with a neo-imperialist foreign policy and neo-fascist domestic policies.

It is not always easy to decide to what extent these people who promote a simplified image of Russia are guided by lack of knowledge, Cold War cliches, factors of American domestic policy...

No matter how loud they are at this point, these voices are not going to determine American policy on Russia. If we see some real changes in the court system and some transparent rules of the game for investors, the Khodorkovsky trial could become just an unpleasant incident. Those who believe that true cooperation with Russia is in America's interests would then get the upper hand in debates in the United States. Such changes would improve Russia's image.

Translated by A. Ignatkin