Svetlana Bakhmina
Encyclopedia
Svetlana Bakhmina was a middle-ranking legal executive for Yukos
, the Russian oil company who was arrested and tried on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement. On April 21, 2009 she was released from jail.
On 27 May 2008 Bakhmina appealed to the Zubovo-Polyansky court of Mordovia
for an early conditional discharge. The appeal was refused.
On 10 September 2008 Bakhmina once again appealed to the Zubovo-Polyansky court of Mordovia
for an early conditional discharge, as she had served half of her term. The appeal was refused despite the fact that Bakhmina was in her seventh month of pregnancy.
The case is considered especially tragic because Svetlana Bakhmina, then 36, is the mother of two little boys who at the time of her arrest were aged 2 and 6 years respectively. She was reportedly arrested at five in the morning, and refused bail for apparently no good reason, and as a result was not permitted to see her children even once in the sixteen months from the time of her arrest to the passing down of the sentence of imprisonment. In 2005 she went on hunger strike after her custodians in a pre-trial detention centre refused to allow her to make paid telephone calls to her sons.
Lawyer's reaction
The lawyer for the imprisoned Yukos chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky
, is Robert Amsterdam
, a Canadian. In an interview he gave to Radio Free Europe
just after being expelled from Russia, and prior to the verdict on Ms. Bakhmina, Mr. Amsterdam said that "the procuracy has admitted that she is a hostage of the Kremlin. They want the former general counsel back and they are using her as a pawn to get him back."
As to the charge that Svetlana Bakhmina was guilty of embezzlement, it has been reported that no embezzlement actually took place, since the "victim" company – the Tomskneft oil company – has not filed any complaint and says, on the contrary, that it has suffered no such fraud.
Media reaction
An article, entitled A Vicious Sentence, by Mikhail Fishman, appeared in Kommersant-Vlast
on 24 April 2006. The author described the Tomskneft case:
"This concerns the assets of Tomskneft-VNK, taken over by YUKOS. The management of VNK resisted the takeover; it used a technique that was widespread in the late 1990s - making up a fictitious debt for the company, so that VNK appeared to owe somebody $440 million. All the same, YUKOS succeeded in acquiring the controlling interest. It refused to pay the fictitious debt, and transferred the assets of VNK enterprises to offshore zones. When the state, a minority shareholder in VNK, called on YUKOS to account for the transfer, YUKOS explained that it was a safeguard against attacks on the company by the fictitious creditors. All the enterprises in question were returned to VNK ownership almost a year before the auction at which YUKOS bought out the state's remaining stake in the company - at a fair market price, as the state later acknowledged.
"Nevertheless, Tomskneft (contrary to its wishes and to common sense) has been declared a victim, the temporary transfer of assets has been defined as theft, and the lawyer who carried out the orders of the company's real owners has been identified as the mastermind of the operation."
in July 2006. According to a Washington Post report from 15 July 2006, the President was told in person about the case of Svetlana Bakhmina when he met with "embattled activists" in Saint Petersburg
. Irina Yasina, head of the NGO Open Russia, "appealed to Bush to raise with Putin the case of Svetlana Bakhmina, 36, a former attorney at Khodorkovsky’s oil company…. Yasina called the allegations bogus". "Bush said later that he promised the activists he would convey their concerns to Putin", whom he called his friend. However it is not known whether President Bush did subsequently raise the case of Svetlana Bakhmina in his discussions with President Vladimir Putin
.
On October 8, 2008 a site was launched featuring an open letter to President Dmitry Medvedev
titled "Help Svetlana Bakhmina". As of November 9, 2008, the letter has been signed by 82,114 supporters. A rival letter launched on October 19 calls for Bakhmina serving out her full sentence, and as of November 8, 2008 has 2,531 signatures. On November 28, 2008 Bakhmina gave birth to a girl. There was no response to Bakhmina's appeal for clemency. On April 21, 2009 she was released from jail.
YUKOS
OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" was a petroleum company in Russia which, until 2003, was controlled by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a number of other prominent Russian businessmen. After Yukos was bankrupted, Khodorkovsky was convicted and sent to prison.Yukos headquarters was located in...
, the Russian oil company who was arrested and tried on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement. On April 21, 2009 she was released from jail.
Arrest and trial
Svetlana Bakhima was arrested on 8 December 2004 and tried on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement. On 19 April 2006 she was sentenced to two years imprisonment for tax evasion and six and a half years imprisonment for embezzlement, which the Simonovsky district court combined into a seven year prison term in a high-security penal colony.Appeal
Following an appeal, the conviction for tax evasion was overturned in the Moscow City Court on 24 August 2006, and her sentence was accordingly reduced to six and a half years. At the same hearing, Svetlana Bakhmina was given leave to appeal for a postponement of the prison term because she has small children. Consequently, on 19 September 2006 Svetlana Bakhmina appealed to the court for a deferral of her sentence for nine years (under Russian law, a person whose sentence is deferred in such a way can be allowed temporary liberty). The decision of the court was to refuse her appeal.On 27 May 2008 Bakhmina appealed to the Zubovo-Polyansky court of Mordovia
Mordovia
The Republic of Mordovia , also known as Mordvinia, is a federal subject of Russia . Its capital is the city of Saransk. Population: -Geography:The republic is located in the eastern part of the East European Plain of Russia...
for an early conditional discharge. The appeal was refused.
On 10 September 2008 Bakhmina once again appealed to the Zubovo-Polyansky court of Mordovia
Mordovia
The Republic of Mordovia , also known as Mordvinia, is a federal subject of Russia . Its capital is the city of Saransk. Population: -Geography:The republic is located in the eastern part of the East European Plain of Russia...
for an early conditional discharge, as she had served half of her term. The appeal was refused despite the fact that Bakhmina was in her seventh month of pregnancy.
Reaction
The case has attracted particular attention because a number of commentators have expressed the view that Svetlana Bakhmina was not guilty of any offence, and that she is in effect a political prisoner as a consequence of a politically-motivated vendetta by the authorities against Yukos and its executive officers. Specifically, it is alleged that Svetlana Bakhmina was victimised because the prosecuting authorities were not able to lay hands on the Yukos legal executive they wanted to bring to trial, general counsel Dmitry Gololobov, and chose to prosecute Svetlana Bakhmina because she was the only legal officer they could find.The case is considered especially tragic because Svetlana Bakhmina, then 36, is the mother of two little boys who at the time of her arrest were aged 2 and 6 years respectively. She was reportedly arrested at five in the morning, and refused bail for apparently no good reason, and as a result was not permitted to see her children even once in the sixteen months from the time of her arrest to the passing down of the sentence of imprisonment. In 2005 she went on hunger strike after her custodians in a pre-trial detention centre refused to allow her to make paid telephone calls to her sons.
Lawyer's reaction
The lawyer for the imprisoned Yukos chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky is a Russian prisoner, considered by some - such as Amnesty International - to have been imprisoned for political reasons, jailed until 2016 and a former Russian oligarch and businessman...
, is Robert Amsterdam
Robert Amsterdam
Robert Amsterdam is a Canadian international lawyer and founding partner with Dean Peroff of the law firm Amsterdam & Peroff, with offices in Toronto, Washington and London.- Early life and education :...
, a Canadian. In an interview he gave to Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
just after being expelled from Russia, and prior to the verdict on Ms. Bakhmina, Mr. Amsterdam said that "the procuracy has admitted that she is a hostage of the Kremlin. They want the former general counsel back and they are using her as a pawn to get him back."
As to the charge that Svetlana Bakhmina was guilty of embezzlement, it has been reported that no embezzlement actually took place, since the "victim" company – the Tomskneft oil company – has not filed any complaint and says, on the contrary, that it has suffered no such fraud.
Media reaction
An article, entitled A Vicious Sentence, by Mikhail Fishman, appeared in Kommersant-Vlast
Kommersant
Kommersant is a commerce-oriented newspaper published in Russia. , the circulation was 131,000.- History :The newspaper was initially published in 1909, and it was closed down following the Bolshevik seizure of power and the introduction of censorship in 1917.In 1989, with the onset of press...
on 24 April 2006. The author described the Tomskneft case:
"This concerns the assets of Tomskneft-VNK, taken over by YUKOS. The management of VNK resisted the takeover; it used a technique that was widespread in the late 1990s - making up a fictitious debt for the company, so that VNK appeared to owe somebody $440 million. All the same, YUKOS succeeded in acquiring the controlling interest. It refused to pay the fictitious debt, and transferred the assets of VNK enterprises to offshore zones. When the state, a minority shareholder in VNK, called on YUKOS to account for the transfer, YUKOS explained that it was a safeguard against attacks on the company by the fictitious creditors. All the enterprises in question were returned to VNK ownership almost a year before the auction at which YUKOS bought out the state's remaining stake in the company - at a fair market price, as the state later acknowledged.
"Nevertheless, Tomskneft (contrary to its wishes and to common sense) has been declared a victim, the temporary transfer of assets has been defined as theft, and the lawyer who carried out the orders of the company's real owners has been identified as the mastermind of the operation."
Request for appeal to President Bush
A footnote to the case occurred when President George W. Bush visited St PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in July 2006. According to a Washington Post report from 15 July 2006, the President was told in person about the case of Svetlana Bakhmina when he met with "embattled activists" in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. Irina Yasina, head of the NGO Open Russia, "appealed to Bush to raise with Putin the case of Svetlana Bakhmina, 36, a former attorney at Khodorkovsky’s oil company…. Yasina called the allegations bogus". "Bush said later that he promised the activists he would convey their concerns to Putin", whom he called his friend. However it is not known whether President Bush did subsequently raise the case of Svetlana Bakhmina in his discussions with President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
.
Recent events
On 26 September 2008 a Bakhmina's classmate sent an open letter to President Medvedev appealing for clemency and calling for an immediate release of Bakhmina who is currently in her seventh month of pregnancy.On October 8, 2008 a site was launched featuring an open letter to President Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
titled "Help Svetlana Bakhmina". As of November 9, 2008, the letter has been signed by 82,114 supporters. A rival letter launched on October 19 calls for Bakhmina serving out her full sentence, and as of November 8, 2008 has 2,531 signatures. On November 28, 2008 Bakhmina gave birth to a girl. There was no response to Bakhmina's appeal for clemency. On April 21, 2009 she was released from jail.