Introduction

A well respected Russian attorney currently practicing in New York responded to one of my recent articles which had criticized the prosecution of Yukos and Russia's richest "oligarch," Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky (MBK) by asking: "What is wrong with wanting Russia to collect all taxes actually owed to it?" Of course, the answer to this is: "Nothing at all." Utilizing high profile prosecutions to make government policy clear is certainly a tactic regularly practiced in the U.S. The Martha Stewart prosecution is a recent example of such a U.S. "show trial." I ...