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Russian tycoon guilty of theft
Source: Agencies |
December 28, 2010, Tuesday
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A JUDGE yesterday declared Mikhail Khodorkovsky guilty of theft and money laundering charges, which will likely keep the oil tycoon who was once Russia's richest man in jail for several more years.
It was clear from the opening pages of his verdict that the judge has found Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev guilty. Reading the full verdict and announcing the sentence is expected to take several days.
Khodorkovsky is near the end of an eight-year sentence after being convicted of tax evasion and fraud.
The conviction on charges of stealing all the oil his Yukos company produced between 1998 and 2003 and laundering the proceeds could keep him behind bars until at least 2017.
Vladimir Putin, who was president during Khodorkovsky's first trial and is now prime minister, has shown no sign of softening his attitude toward the former oligarch. Putin said earlier this month that Khodorkovsky is a proven criminal and "should sit in jail."
Hundreds of Khodorkovsky supporters rallied outside the courthouse yesterday. In the courtroom, Judge Viktor Danilkin read the verdict in a low voice, drowned out at times by loud chants from outside. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev sat impassively in a glass cage.
Khodorkovsky's arrest in October 2003 and the state takeover of his Yukos oil company allowed the government to reassert control over the energy sector. The Kremlin also consolidated its hold over political life. Soon after Khodorkovsky's arrest, parties that he had funded were shut out of parliament or sidelined.
It was clear from the opening pages of his verdict that the judge has found Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev guilty. Reading the full verdict and announcing the sentence is expected to take several days.
Khodorkovsky is near the end of an eight-year sentence after being convicted of tax evasion and fraud.
The conviction on charges of stealing all the oil his Yukos company produced between 1998 and 2003 and laundering the proceeds could keep him behind bars until at least 2017.
Vladimir Putin, who was president during Khodorkovsky's first trial and is now prime minister, has shown no sign of softening his attitude toward the former oligarch. Putin said earlier this month that Khodorkovsky is a proven criminal and "should sit in jail."
Hundreds of Khodorkovsky supporters rallied outside the courthouse yesterday. In the courtroom, Judge Viktor Danilkin read the verdict in a low voice, drowned out at times by loud chants from outside. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev sat impassively in a glass cage.
Khodorkovsky's arrest in October 2003 and the state takeover of his Yukos oil company allowed the government to reassert control over the energy sector. The Kremlin also consolidated its hold over political life. Soon after Khodorkovsky's arrest, parties that he had funded were shut out of parliament or sidelined.
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