Open Trial for Russia's Richest Man
The trial of Russia's richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, for fraud and tax evasion will start a week today before a panel of three judges in an open court. A pre-trial hearing yesterday also ruled that the oil billionaire, whose arrest Kremlin critics have said was prompted by his...
The trial of Russia's richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, for fraud and tax evasion will start a week today before a panel of three judges in an open court.
A pre-trial hearing yesterday also ruled that the oil billionaire, whose arrest Kremlin critics have said was prompted by his persistent opposition to the Putin administration and his presidential ambitions, will be tried alongside another shareholder in the Yukos oil firm, Platon Lebedev.
The Meschansky district court granted a defence request that the two cases be merged.
Mr Khodorkovsky faces tax evasion and fraud charges in relation to the natural resources of the Yukos empire he created during the dubious privatisation of state assets in the 1990s.
Mr Lebedev, a key shareholder in Yukos, faces similar charges.
Elena Lipster, one of the defence lawyers, said the trial would be open.
Since Yukos's former chief executive officer was arrested at gunpoint last October, the company has been hit with a $3bn (£1.6bn) tax bill and had its assets frozen, leading the firm to the brink of bankruptcy.
A pre-trial hearing yesterday also ruled that the oil billionaire, whose arrest Kremlin critics have said was prompted by his persistent opposition to the Putin administration and his presidential ambitions, will be tried alongside another shareholder in the Yukos oil firm, Platon Lebedev.
The Meschansky district court granted a defence request that the two cases be merged.
Mr Khodorkovsky faces tax evasion and fraud charges in relation to the natural resources of the Yukos empire he created during the dubious privatisation of state assets in the 1990s.
Mr Lebedev, a key shareholder in Yukos, faces similar charges.
Elena Lipster, one of the defence lawyers, said the trial would be open.
Since Yukos's former chief executive officer was arrested at gunpoint last October, the company has been hit with a $3bn (£1.6bn) tax bill and had its assets frozen, leading the firm to the brink of bankruptcy.
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