Today Russian justice finally closes the file Alexanian. It should not be seen as a gesture of humanity. At the expiration of the limitation period, neither the judge nor the prosecutor can not prevent the closing of the record. Only the defendant himself has the right, if he wants to get a dismissal and compensation. This is not the choice made by Alexanian. He can not afford to waste time and energy to fight against the pseudo-Russian justice. The most important thing for him now is to recover all of his civic rights, including the possibility to leave Russian territory. For over a year since he is requesting permission to travel abroad for treatment.
Relatives and supporters of today Alexanian grow a sigh of relief. But a great feeling of bitterness remains. Those who know
Vasily know that if his health would permit, he would fight to the end to prove his innocence. And then somehow, those who remained in prison and tortured for two years received at least a draw. He failed to force him to testify against his former employers of Yukos, but their strategy has worked in part. Bitterness
also because courageous testimony before the Supreme Court Alexanian Russian did not cause the reactions that we were entitled to expect. The remand is always synonymous with blackmail and torture, since there were several deaths in the same prison and in the circumstances appalling ...
And last but not least - why Alexanian he spent two years in detention?
- He was charged with offenses that did not exist in the Penal Code at the time he supposedly committed. Upon his arrest, the indictment referred to in Article 174.1, which only appeared in the penal code in 2002, while the episodes mentioned dated from 1998-1999. The indictment was therefore invalid at the time. It was surreptitiously fixed some months later.
- The judges who decided his detention relied in particular on an electronic document that had supposedly been found in the computer's legal department at Yukos, which described the various means by which employees of Yukos could circumvent the law. This document was therefore Alexanian a dangerous character, may hinder the smooth running of the investigation if left at liberty. Now we learned a few weeks ago that the document was not developed within the company, Yukos, but ... by Ribyne, CEO of East Petroleum, one of the fiercest opponents of Khodorkovsky and part-civil trial.
This element of the case has been little reported by the media, but use by the public prosecutor of such gross forgery is scandalous to say the least!
So if we sum up: Alexanian was arrested on the basis of an indictment invalid, he was kept in custody two years because of a crude forgery. During these two years he has been subjected to blackmail and abuse, his health has deteriorated to put his life at risk ... Therefore difficult to truly rejoice today, even if the persecution of Alexanian by Russian authorities is nearing completion.
They will also tormented to the end: to make their decision, judges are required to attend in person qu'Alexanian in court, even though the doctors forbid him from appearing in public because of his severe immune deficiency. The young lawyer became extremely thin, the lower face covered by a surgical mask. He had difficulty speaking clearly and often paused to cough ... The Observer
A Russian court has decided to terminate the current legal proceedings against Vasily Aleksanian, a former head of Yukos oil company accused of embezzlement and seriously ill, believing that the limitation period had expired. "It should close the case because the statute of limitations has expired," said Olga Nedelin, Moscow Simonovsky court judge. 