Medvedev Nominates Yukos Case Judge for European Court

President Dmitry Medvedev has nominated an ad hoc judge in the case of the collapsed oil company Yukos vs. Russia at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as Russia’s national judge in the court, daily business paper Kommersant said on Saturday.

Andrei Bushev is among two other nominees to replace Anatoly Kovler, Russia’s current judge in the ECHR, whose term expires in November, Kommersant said citing Andrei Fyodorov, Russia’s Justice Ministry official who deals with legal issues relating to the court in Strasbourg.

In September last year, the ECHR dismissed claims that Russia abused the law to destroy Yukos, but ruled that the firm’s property rights were violated. The Western media described the ruling as a victory for the Russian government.

Yukos, once Russia’s biggest oil company, said it was illegally hounded out of business by the Russian authorities.

Kommersant said Medvedev narrowed down an initial shortlist of six judges.

Two other nominees are Supreme Arbitration Court judge Dmitry Dedov and Supreme Court judge Olga Vedernikova.

The candidacies will now go before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe by April 1.

Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky was jailed for eight years in 2005 for fraud and tax evasion. His sentence was extended in December 2010, and he is now not eligible for release until 2016.

Khodorkovsky says he is the victim of a politically-motivated campaign, a charge denied by the authorities.

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