Despite Public Protest, Pregnant Russian Oil Lawyer Remains Imprisoned

11/20/2008 1:45 pm

Despite Public Protest, Pregnant Russian Oil Lawyer Remains Imprisoned

Svetlana Bakhmina, a former Yukos Oil lawyer imprisoned in December of 2004 on embezzlement charges, will have to give birth in prison.

Despite an online petition’s 86,000 signatories asking Pres. Dmitry Medvedev to pardon her and public protests, officials have declined Bakhmina’s request for a release to give birth to her third child, which was conceived during a visit from her husband. Instead of being surrounded by loved ones, Bakhmina, who has served four of her sentence’s six years, has been transferred to a guarded clinic more than 600 miles from Moscow. Advocates for Bakhmina’s release note that other nonviolent women who have completed more than half their sentence have been released in time to give birth, and the prison’s strident restrictions have many speculating they’re simply playing politics.

Some critics believe she was punished for the actions of some of her bosses, who managed to flee the country as authorities probed Yukos in connection with the case against its founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, is in prison and has served more than half of an eight-year term after being convicted of embezzlement. Many view his arrest as Kremlin punishment for his political ambitions.

Bakhmina originally pleaded innocent to the charges and claimed she was simply following orders. She later admitted guilt, and has since asked for parole twice on account of good behavior and the fact that she’s served more than half of her term.

As if her continued captivity isn’t dubious enough, Bakhmina’s lawyer says he has not been allowed to see her for over a month.