about Russian judiciary.

Agence France Presse, 29 May 2008


The United Nation's special rapporteur on judicial affairs ended a visit to Russia on Thursday by evoking criticism that the country's courts were biased and subject to "political interference."

"Criticism has been expressed with regard to the transparency in the selection process of judges and the lack of objective criteria in the allocation of court cases by court presidents," Leandro Despouy, UN special rapporteur on independence of judges and lawyers, said in a statement.

Despouy referred during a press conference to "certain acts of political interference raised in the media" and reports of the authorities leaning on judges through "the Soviet system of phone calls."

Despouy said he had met with lawyers representing the founder of the Yukos oil empire, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is serving an eight-year prison term after being found guilty on corruption charges seen by critics as politically tainted.

"The lawyers told me that he is being arbitrarily detained," Despouy said, although he said it remained to be seen if Khodkorkovsky had suffered "discriminatory treatment."

He welcomed newly inaugurated President Dmitry Medvedev's vow to end "legal nihilism," to attack corruption and defend human rights.

But he also expressed concern that Russia "is among the countries with the most complaints" before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.