Kremlin Rules

The notorious case of Russia's imprisonment of Mikhail Khodorkovsky received some attention this week when Europe's human rights court ruled that Russia violated the rights of the former oil tycoon during his arrest and jailing. Unfortunately, they discovered no firm proof that the case was initiated through politics because Mr. Khodorkovsky infuriated Vladimir Putin by challenging him through the formation of an opposition party.

All the money that Mikhail Khodorkovsky was in possession of availed him nothing against the wrath of Vladimir Putin, enraged at the opposition to his authority. So much for the long-awaited modernization and democratization of Russia. There was to be no opposition to the authoritarian rule of Prime Minister Putin, planning soon to resume his previous title of President. One wonders whether the current President, Dmitry Medvedev, is not a trifle nervous at this juncture.

Having completed his original eight-year term in prison, Judge Viktor Danilkin, a willing accomplice to Vladimir Putin, simply sentenced Mr. Khodorkovsky to a concurrent 14 years' imprisonment. His scheduled release has been postponed from 2011 to 2017. His conviction in 2005 on charges of tax evasion and fraud resulted solely from his impudence in challenging Vladimir Putin, a fairly open secret.

What Mr. Khodorkovsky has been undergoing in his unspeakable travails, has been an effective message to Russia's other oligarchs, that their holdings would be secure as long as they know and observed their place. Yukos is now restored as a state-run-and-owned enterprise; their ownerships of previously-state-owned enterprises could also be confiscated.

The Kremlin decides what kind of politics will be played out in Russia. The rule of law and human rights observation are what the Kremlin declares them to be. No one can assert independence from the Kremlin and its established rules without paying the consequences.