Russia

"I very much hope that this year, from my point of view, the unjustly imprisoned Khodorkovsky and the unjustly imprisoned Lebedev will be released." - Alexey Venediktov, editor-in-chief, Echo Moskvy. January 5, 2013

"The EU should demand answers about why businessmen like Khodorkovsky continue to be locked up, why journalists continue to be killed and in particular why nothing has been done to bring Sergei Magnitsky's killers to justice." - Kristiina Ojuland MEP, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)

"This welcome news on the Khodorkovsky case should not be allowed to obscure the profound deterioration in the rule of law in Russia." - Kristiina Ojuland MEP, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)

"We know that there is widespread political interference in the Russian court system so it's possible that this was timed to create a favourable impression ahead of the EU-Russia Summit, which takes place this Friday 21 December." - Laima Andrikiene MEP, EPP Group Working Group on Foreign Affairs

"The court's decision does not at all change the injustice of Khodorkovsky's imprisonment or the politically-motivated nature of his prosecution. This was merely a case of the court implementing the new Russian law on sentencing. It was not an act of mercy or an admission that the conviction was flawed." - Laima Andrikiene MEP, Vice-Chairwoman of the EPP Group Working Group on Foreign Affairs.

"The second trial, verdict, and sentence against former Yukos executives Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev evoke serious concerns about the right to a fair trial and the independence of the judiciary in the Russian Federation." - H.R. 6156, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on 16 November 2012.