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Tuesday May 17, 08:41
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Khodorkovsky’s defense pessimistic about verdict
(by Olivia Cohen)
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The defense team of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia’s once richest man and owner of oil giant YUKOS, is not very optimistic about the verdict after the Moscow’s Meshchansky District court Judge started delivering the verdict in hearings over the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his partner Platon Lebedev, in a vocable case that attracted attention of international organizations and leading countries.
The prosecutors are seeking the highest term for both businessmen of about ten years in jail. "It’s obvious that the verdict will be guilty, because it repeats the indictment practically word for word," defense attorney Yuri Schmidt said.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev are facing imprisonment for fraud and tax evasion in a case that has been delayed several times.
The defense team for Khodorkovsky claims that the case is politically motivated as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin decided to teach businessmen a lesson on how dangerous it is to get mixed in politics in such country as Russia.
Khodorkovsky tried to get closer to political elite by funding some officials in an attempt to resist tax pressure from Vladimir Putin. Both US and EU claimed Russia’s moves were antidemocratic but Putin stressed the case has nothing to do with politics.
Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were arrested in 2003 when Russia’s authorities filed a $28 billion back tax claim against YUKOS, the largest oil producer in Russia. YUKOS key unit Yuganskneftegaz was acquired by OAO Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned oil company, raising questions about the possibility of imposing state control over the biggest oil producers. Rosneft bought Yuganskneftegaz for $9.3 billion in December. Rosneft may now be merged with OAO Gazprom, a Russian state-controlled company that is the world’s biggest natural gas exporter.
The case remains very vocal now as the Council of Europe, the European Union’s human rights arm, said in January the specifics of the case head it to thought that the fairness and impartiality of Russian authorities are very questionable.
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