Investigators Refuse to Prosecute Khodorkovsky Judge

Russia’s Investigation Committee refused to institute criminal proceedings against Viktor Danilkin, the trial judge in the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, as the defense lawyers of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev requested. The lawyers accuse Danilkin of entering a knowingly unlawful sentence, relying, in particular, on a statement of former Danilkin’s assistance Natalia Vasilyeva who said that the sentence that Danilikin had announced had been written by somebody outside the court and imposed on Danilkin against his will. However, the investigators refused to launch probe into the matter pointing out that the document presented by Vasilyeva and purporting to be the original sentence (with a milder punishment) written by Danilkin himself is not signed or sealed and therefore does not identify its author. “The information about the falsification of the criminal case of Mr. Khodorkovsky and Mr. Lebedev is based only on hearsay, personal guesses, assumptions, and not on any objective data,” said Vladimir Markin, Investigative Committee spokesman.

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/1663897