Pregnant Russian inmate sparks e-petition

MOSCOW, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- More than 80,000 people have signed an Internet petition urging Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to release an imprisoned pregnant lawyer.

The lawyer, Svetlana Bakhmina, has served more than half of her 6 1/2-year sentence for tax evasion and embezzlement in the case against former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

She became pregnant in March when she was granted a leave to visit her family in Moscow. Her baby is due in December.

"Dmitri Anatolevich, we understand that you cannot pressure the court," the petition to Medvedev read. "But you have the constitutional right to grant amnesty. We, the undersigned, ask you to use this right."

The Internet petition and accompanying notoriety began when a friend of Bakhmina posted an open letter to Medvedev on her Web site protesting a court's rejection of Bakhmina's request for early release.

Some commentators say Bakhmina is a felon who ought to finish her sentence, the Times reported. Others, such as former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, have called for her release.