Obama Finally Objects to Political Prosecutions . . . . in Russia

For Americans wanting President Barack Obama to speak out against political prosecutions, the words were long overdue.

But there was one problem: Obama was talking about political prosecutions in Russia, not back home in the United States.

According to The New York Times, one of the first topics Obama raised upon his departure for Moscow last night was the integrity of the Russian justice system. Specifically, Obama mentioned the politically charged prosecution of a prominent Russian businessman:

Mr. Obama raised concerns about the treatment of the businessman, Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, who along with his partner has been put back on trial six years after they were first arrested. Critics say the new trial seems aimed at keeping Mr. Khodorkovsky, an opponent to the government who was once Russia’s richest man, in prison.

Obama apparently had looked backward long enough to be quite familiar with the Khodorkovsky case: More