| Parliamentary Assembly Assembl�e parlementaire |
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The circumstances surrounding the arrest and prosecution of leading Yukos executives
Doc. 10083
12 February 2004
Motion for a resolution
presented by Mr Bindig and others
This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it
1. The Assembly is aware that since June 2003 the Russian Federation authorities have laid a series of charges and made arrests regarding the Yukos Oil company and its executives, including:
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the arrest of former Yukos Chief Executive Officer Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Yukos shareholder Platon Lebedev and Yukos security official Alexei Pichugin;
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the continuing detention of all three of these individuals without bail and the alleged maltreatment of Mr Pichugin;
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the issuance of arrest warrants for 10 other individuals – including Leonid Nevzlin, Vladimir Dubov and Mikhail Brudno – who are directly or indirectly related to Yukos;
2. The Assembly is aware that Mr. Khodorkovsky has supported corporate and political reform in recent years and those activities by the authorities of the Russian Federation against him and Yukos commenced, after Mr Khodorkovsky had announced that he would fund opposition parties during the campaign for the elections to the Russian Duma in 2003. The Assembly also notes that the charges against Mr. Nevzlin were announced after he publicly declared his support for presidential candidate Irina Khakamada recently.
3. The Assembly stresses the need for any law enforcement agency to perform its duties in total independence and free from any political considerations. The Assembly is concerned that these principles – which are fundamental to the rule of law – may not have been fully respected in some cases, including those of some leading executives of Yukos. The Assembly recalls that fair trial rights such as the legality of arrest and detention, the right to a fair hearing, the principle of equality of arms, the right to be presumed innocent applies to all defendants – poor and rich. Any abuse of law enforcement powers for political purposes goes fundamentally against the rights guaranteed under the Russian constitution and the Russian Federation’s commitments under the European Convention on Human Rights.
4. The Assembly notes that national and international human rights organisations have expressed serious concerns about the Yukos case.
5. The Parliamentary Assembly decides:
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to follow closely the proceedings against Yukos executives, monitoring in particular their fairness in the light of the relevant provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Signed
[1]:
Bindig, Germany, SOC
Bartumeu Cassany, Andorra, SOC
Bemelmans-Videc, Netherlands, EPP/CD
Bruce, United Kingdom, LDR
Frunda, Romania, EPP/CD
Jurgens, Netherlands, SOC
Kaufmann, Switzerland, NR
Kroupa, CzechRepublic, EPP/CD
Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, Germany, LDR
L�pez Gonz�lez, Spain, SOC
McNamara, United Kingdom, SOC
Stankevic, Lithuania, LDR
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SOC |
Socialist Group |