It can’t be called good news, but it’s certainly noteworthy. The Russian court has rejected the sexual harassment charge against imprisoned oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The dubious case was filed by Khodorkovsky’s former cellmate, Alexander Kuchma — the same Alexander Kuchma who slashed Khodorkovsky’s face with a knife in 2006. But another of Khodorkovsky’s ex-prisonmates, Denis Yurinsky, rushed to his defense, stating publicly that the allegations were a smear ghostwritten by the authorities. Is this small victory a sign of hope for Khodorkovsky? Not likely.

He is, after all, facing yet another trial in Moscow. Preliminary hearings in the new case, which could add more than a decade to Khodorkovsky’s sentence, start on March 3, and it may very well be that the dismissal of the “gay allegation” is actually a bad omen; rejection of this comparatively minor — and likely prefabricated — case may be the Kremlin waving its “fairness flag.” Now when the court speedily convicts Khodorkovsky of embezzlement and all the other charges, it will have a recent acquittal to shove in the face of critics.

We’ll try to wait for the official verdict before declaring this thing a show trial double-header, but remember, you heard it here first.

Russian Court Rejects Khodorkovsky Sex Assault Suit [AFP]

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