Opposition dismayed by guilty verdict to Russian tycoon
Russian opposition figures decried the guilty verdict to Mikhail Khodorkovskiy and Platon Lebedev.
Boris Nemtsov, one of the leaders of the opposition movement Solidarity called the guilty verdict to Mikhail Khodorkovskiy and Platon Lebedev a sad piece of news, Interfax news agency reported on 27 December.
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"It's a terrible piece of news. Today is a fateful day in many ways. The guilty verdict to Khodorkovskiy and Lebedev means that laws, rights and the constitution have been trampled underfoot," Boris Nemtsov told Interfax on Monday (27 December).
"It a turning point and a very sad one for the country," Boris Nemtsov said. In his view, "the guilty verdict to Mikhail Khodorkovskiy and Platon Lebedev make senseless all this talk about modernization".
Sergey Ivanenko, one of the leaders of the opposition party Yabloko, told Interfax that "the guilty verdict is a logical development for the country's system. This verdict shows that there are no contradictions within the tandem. Our country keeps its bureaucratic authoritarian and punitive system," Sergey Ivanenko believes.
"The Khodorkovskiy case is not simply political. It shows that the discrepancy between reality and the decisions taken by the authorities are becoming increasingly obvious for the majority of people," the politician said.
Another Interfax report quoted co-chairmen of the People's Freedom party "For Russia without Lawlessness and Corruption" as saying that the guilty verdict to Mikhail Khodorkovskiy and Platon Lebedev in the second criminal case will have "negative consequences for the political and economic situation in the country".
"The court has complied with the political order from the executive. This decision will have far-reaching negative consequences for the country's political and economic situation," a statement by the party's co-chairmen Mikhail Kasyanov, Vladimir Milov, Boris Nemtsov and Vladimir Ryzhkov, circulated on Monday, reads.
The document described the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovskiy and Platon Lebedev as "absurd". The co-chairmen of the opposition party spoke about the need "to change a political course which leads the country towards a catastrophe".
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