Final Word from Thursday, May 12, 2005
Barbora Snopková, who made her name as an adviser to former Finance Minister Ivo Svoboda, reported to prison this week for "tunneling" Liberta baby-carriage maker. Svoboda is to follow next week. The hapless pair are no Khodorkovsky and Lebedev (Russia's most-famous prisoners), but there is a parallel. Khodorkovsky was left to his plundering until he started having political ambitions; Snopková and Svoboda probably would have gotten away with their theft (like almost all other Czech tunnelers) if they hadn't entered politics. The big difference between the two cases (other than the amount of money involved) is the way they're perceived. Khodorkovsky, despite his plundering, is seen in the West as a victim of Putin's anti-democratic behavior. Snopková and Svoboda will be remembered - if at all - as the tunnelers who were dumb enough to get caught. [Czech Republic Mikhail Platon corruption]