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Tuesday April 12, 10:39
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Khodorkovsky addresses court in Yukos case
(by Brigitta Zulfitzler)
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Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former chief of the Yukos oil company, delivered an impassioned speech yesterday, on the last day of his dramatic trial.
The imprisoned oil tycoon blamed a "criminal bureaucracy" for his unfounded imprisonment and refused to plead himself guilty. He called the charges against him as "the fantasies of a pulp-fiction writer" cleared in order to help the government in seizing his oil assets and removing him from political activities.
Meanwhile, Mr. Khodorkovsky faces up to 10 years in jail if prosecutors manage to prove charges of embezzlement, fraud and tax delinquency brought against the Russian magnate. The court set April 27 as the date for a verdict.
After the government auctioned off Yukos’ biggest production unit in a disputed sale against a $28 billion back-tax bill, Russia is to respond to an international damages claim filed by Group Menatep, the group said yesterday.
Menatep demands $33.1 billion from the Russian government as compensation for losses caused by the governmental actions.
Russia confiscated Yuganskneftegaz, once Yukos’s top oil-producing unit, and sold it for nearly $9.3 billion in December with official purpose to recover part of $28 billion losses caused by tax evasion at Yukos and its units.
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