Khodorkovsky trial enters its fifth day
(20 May 2005) SHOTLIST 1. Police officers in front of court 2. Police officer's face 3. Line of police officers stand in rain 4. Boots and puddles 5. Police van approaches court 6. Police officers open gates 7. Vans drives through gates 8. Top shot of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev led from police van into court STORYLINE Oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and co-defendant Platon Lebedev arrived at court in Moscow on Friday, expecting to hear the judge's verdict on charges concerning fraud and tax evasion. The court hinted on Thursday that Khodorkovsky could get a reduced sentence, but defence lawyers in the tycoon's 11-month trial in a sweltering courtroom said their client could still be locked away for the maximum 10 years prosecutors are seeking. In the fourth day of the verdict process, the three judges alternated reading from the inches-thick verdict. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev are on trial facing seven charges including fraud, tax evasion and embezzlement in a case that many observers say is Kremlin revenge for Khodorkovsky's funding of opposition parties. The trial and separate dissolution of Khodorkovsky's Yukos oil empire against a disputed 28 (b) billion US dollars back taxes bill are thought to have been triggered when the billionaire funded opposition parties in 2003. That spurred the Kremlin to action, observers say, since it broke an unwritten deal that powerful business oligarchs must stay out of politics. Khodorkovsky's defence team has said they have no doubts about a guilty verdict - the only suspense is how long the founder of what was once Russia's largest oil producer will have to remain behind bars. In a possible sign of a reduced jail term, Judge Irina Kolesnikova said Khodorkovsky and Lebedev had committed theft by fraud. But she said the court's sentencing would be guided by a section of the law calling for four to 10 years' imprisonment, rather than five to 10. However, defence lawyer Yelena Liptser said the sheer volume of charges still offered plenty of scope for the maximum 10-year sentence. Former Russian economy minister Yevgeny Yasin earlier this week said that he expected the ambitious tycoon - whose personal wealth is still estimated by US magazine Forbes at more two (b) billion US dollars - to be in jail beyond the 2008 presidential elections. Participants on Thursday played a guessing game as to when the judges will finally pronounce sentence in Russia's most closely followed criminal trial. Defence lawyer Anton Drel estimated that the verdict reading was only a third complete. Under Russian procedures, a trial verdict, which is read aloud, is not a simple declaration of whether a defendant is guilty, but a long summation of prosecution and defence arguments and court commentary. A firm statement on guilt and on sentencing does not come until the end of the process. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
