European and US leaders have criticised the sentencing of Russian former mogul Mikhail Khodorkovsky in a second fraud trial as politically motivated and a step backward for the rule of law.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, one of Russia's closest allies in the EU and a key trade partner, said she suspected political meddling in the trial of Khodorkovsky, who was handed a 14-year jail sentence.
'I am disappointed by the verdict against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his tough sentence,' Mrs Merkel said in a personal statement, after her government said it was 'very worried' by the court's ruling.
'The impression remains that political motives played a role in the trial. This contradicts the intentions frequently declared by Russia to pursue the path toward a state based entirely on the rule of law.'
The US decried the extended sentence for Khodorkovsky as an 'abusive use' of the legal system and warned that the country's economy will stagnate without an independent judiciary.
'We remain concerned by the allegations of serious due process violations, and what appears to be an abusive use of the legal system for improper ends, particularly now that Khodorkovsky and (co-accused Platon) Lebedev have been sentenced to the maximum penalty,' State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.
'Simply put, the Russian government cannot nurture a modern economy without also developing an independent judiciary that serves as an instrument for furthering economic growth, ensuring equal treatment under the law, and advancing justice in a predictable and fair way,' Mr Toner said.
Britain said it was 'deeply concerned' by the trial, saying it had implications for international confidence in Russian justice.
'The UK calls on Russia to respect the principles of justice and apply the rule of law in a non-discriminatory and proportional way,' Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement.
'In the absence of this the UK and much of the international community will regard such a trial as a retrograde step.'
France urged Russia to take international criticism of the case on board as Khodorkovsky pursues a likely appeal.
'We call on the Russian authorities to take fully into account the concerns raised by the trial in terms of the necessary affirmation in Russia of values that are part of our shared heritage: the rule of law, respect for fundamental rights and freedoms,' foreign ministry deputy spokeswoman Christine Fage said.
The Polish head of the European Parliament highlighted 'systemic problems' behind the latest sentence against the Yukos oil company founder.
EU Parliament president Jerzy Buzek, a former Solidarity activist in Soviet-era Poland, said the judges' decision to keep Khodorkovsky and Lebedev in jail was an 'emblematic symbol' of Russia's failure to modernise.
'I am very disappointed,' the former Polish premier said. 'The trials of Mikhail Khodorkovsky were the litmus test of how the rule of law and human rights are treated in today's Russia.
'There is still a very long path for Russia to take.'
The six-year prison sentence was imposed by a Russian court on Khodorkovsky for embezzlement and money-laundering.
With his current eight-year sentence for tax evasion due to expire next year, the 47-year-old now faces imprisonment until 2017.
Khodorkovsky is a long time opponent of Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin.
