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Latest update: 31/12/2010
- justice - Mikhail Khodorkovsky - Russia
Court extends jail term for oil tycoon who opposed Putin
A Russian judge has sentenced former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man and a staunch critic of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, to six more years in prison following a trial that has attracted international criticism.
AP - Jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced to six more years in prison Thursday following a trial seen as payback for his defiance of Vladimir Putin’s power.
Judge Viktor Danilkin sentenced Khodorkovsky to fourteen years after convicting him of stealing oil from his own company and laundering the proceeds, but the judge said the new sentence is counted from his 2003 arrest and includes his previous term in jail. Khodorkovsky is in the final year of an eight-year prison sentence.
Putin, now prime minister, is seen as the driving force behind the trial of Khodorkovsky, who challenged him during his presidency. Eyeing a return to the presidency in 2012, Putin appears unwilling to risk the possibility that a freed Khodorkovsky could help lead his political foes.
Following his 20-month second trial, the judge convicted Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev on charges of stealing around $27 billion worth of the oil that his Yukos company produced from 1998 to 2003 and laundering the proceeds. Defense lawyers said much of the judge’s verdict was copied from the indictment and the prosecutors’ final arguments.
The judge also sentenced Lebedev to fourteen years.
The defense called the charges ridiculous, saying they reflected the lack of understanding of the oil business, including the payment of transit fees and export duties.
The outcome of the second trial exposes how little has changed under President Dmitry Medvedev despite his promises to strengthen the rule of law and make courts an independent branch of government. The Russian Foreign Ministry has dismissed Western criticism of the trial as unacceptable pressure.
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Comments (5)
Khodorkovsky sentencing
His sentence is not as bad as some people are treated in America. Held without trial. Russia is only 20 years on the path to democracy, at least they haven't invaded as many countries as America or hanged people they considered racially inferior. There's no separation between using the toilets or transport like you had in the good old USA. What a Mickey Mouse country! Besides, several of the oligarchs, are of a particular persuasion and backed Yeltsin for a second term in office so they were offered all of Russia's assets for virtually nothing, which in itself is the biggest crime of all. Khodorkovsky wasn't happy with his 30 billion in cash, he bought a TV network under the pretense of helping the masses, when in fact he bought all their shares for pennies. I'm sure he has enough money in Switzerland when he comes out – just another type of Madoff the world can do without.
Politics aside, Khordokovsky is a criminal
For similar crimes Bernard Madoff got life in prison. Khordokovsky was a vulture and predator during the 1990's acquiring private ownership of traditional state owned oil and other financial operations. His partners killed a woman just because she would not sell her store to them. He's good looking, has a nice smile, etc, but "don't judge a book by it's cover". And what is most disturbing is that he and millions of people think of him as just a shining, forward looking, futuristic entrepreneur. He is as compartmentalizing as any SS operative in Germany during the Nazi era. He is lucky to spend only 15 years in prison.
MIKHAIL KHORDOVORSKY
Putin should know that normatter how long truth will always be revealed, he can continue to humuliate and persecute Khordovsky but it will not last forever, many dictators and authoritarians have past in history and their end was always terrible and pathetic. When the world is moving towards freedom , liberty and the dignity of mankind, Mr Putin and his co-traveller Medvedev are pulling Russia backwards.
Khodorkovsky sentencing
I would say that the court should be called a kangaroo court. Please don't let Obama know about this, as he may wish to adopt it within the US - or maybe he already has?
Oil tycoon's sentence
It's cases like this that remind us how important an impartial, accountable, and sound legal system are for a country to be called "civilised" and to be taken seriously. Khodorkhovsky's "crime" was that he was a threat to Putin and his superego and lust for power. Russia's "legal system" simply buckled under the Kremlin's pressure. What a Mickey Mouse country!! Avoid it at all costs.
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