André Glucksmann on Khodorkovsky's political vision

The founder of the Yukos oil company Mikhail Khodorkovsky has blasted Russian politics in his last court appearance before his judgement is pronounced. His acquittal is unlikely but it would be a good sign, philosopher André Glucksmann writes in the conservative daily Die Welt: "Everyone must ask why the dishonoured and ransacked ex-oligarch who has already spent seven years in a Siberian prison without justification has not been released, and why he is not allowed to go into exile. Such an approach would have advantages: it would give foreign investors a little security. ... The hotch-potch of obscure political scandals and mysterious assassinations doesn't encourage investors to do business there. Khodorkovsky was the one who created a vision of a Russia that modernises and becomes democratic by freeing itself of its politico-economic mafias. Until only recently Mikhail Khodorkovsky's ideas seemed premature and reckless, if not entirely utopian, in the eyes of Moscow. Now the wind is blowing from a different direction and people are discovering that the real risk for the country is Putin and his sad performance."

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