Russia’s government violated the rights of the now-defunct oil behemoth Yukos, the European Court of Human Rights ruled yesterday, but added it was not ready to rule on a claim for nearly US$100 billion in damages.
Russian authorities were unfair in meting out punishment to the company over tax violations and didn’t give Yukos enough time to prepare its defense, according to the ruling from the court in Strasbourg.
Yukos had sought US$98 billion in damages, in the largest claim ever filed in the court’s 50-year history and one of Russia’s biggest legal challenges to date.
The company — a major Russian taxpayer whose primary subsidiary once produced as much oil as all of Libya — was dismantled by Russian authorities after the 2003 arrest of its boss, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. His supporters say then-Russian president Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin mounted an orchestrated effort to destroy a tycoon seen as a threat to Putin’s rule.
The European court found that the question of damages “is not ready for decision” and gave both parties three months to reach an eventual settlement. If they don’t, the court will rule at later on whether to order any damages.
The court’s nine-judge panel found that Russia violated three articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, but rejected several other claims filed by Yukos. It also dismissed the Russian government’s argument that the case shouldn’t be heard by the European court at all.
Even without damages, the finding could still embarrass Russia and hurt its efforts to win back international investors scared off by Yukos and other legal cases in recent years. The court has repeatedly found Russia in violation of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, and deals with more cases involving Russia than any other country.
The Yukos case was unusually high-profile, and is being watched by investors hungry for profits from Russia’s lucrative markets, but wary of the country’s legal system, as well as by Western diplomatic observers and human rights activists.
Russian authorities had accused Yukos of using shell companies to hide revenue from tax authorities, and through the courts they ultimately froze its assets, forced it to sell its shares in other companies and declared Yukos insolvent in 2006 before the company was finally liquidated a year later. Many of its assets ended up in the hands of the state-run oil company Rosneft.
Those representing Yukos want the Russian government to pay back the taxes, fines and penalties that the company was charged.
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
RSS