I mean, you try reading this fast!
Posted on 05/26/2005 2:49:12 PM PDT by Lukasz
Speaking outside the courtroom, lawyer Konstantin Rifkin repeated the defense team's complaint that the judges had largely ignored the evidence it presented. "The evidence of witnesses is cited very selectively -- what fits with what the prosecution is saying goes into the verdict while there is complete silence on explanations or conclusions that favor our clients," Rifkin said.
Judges read the verdict in oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky's politically charged trial for a ninth day Thursday, going over details of tax evasion charges. Defense lawyers agree that what the judges have read so far guarantees that the court will find their billionaire client guilty: In their ongoing assessment of evidence and testimony judges have said that Khodorkovsky and business partner Platon Lebedev committed numerous crimes that include fraud and embezzlement.
But with a number of episodes still to be analyzed the court has yet to deliver its final statement or hand down punishment. Lawyers have suggested the last act is being artificially drawn out to dampen interest in the case.
Observers say Khodorkovsky's funding of political opposition parties in the run-up to parliamentary elections in 2003 led to his dramatic gunpoint arrest in October of that year. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly contended, however, that the case is a just probe into a robber baron and his dubiously acquired riches.
The court's summation of evidence and testimony has focused on the alleged failure of Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev to obey a court decision in connection with the privatization of a major fertilizer component-maker.
On Thursday, the judges read an assessment of the personal tax evasion charges against Lebedev and moved on to corporate tax evasion charges before adjourning for the day. Those focus on allegations that the oil company Khodorkovsky founded, Yukos, illegally used onshore tax havens and promissory notes to pay tax bills.
Prosecutors have asked for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to each be sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Speaking outside the courtroom, lawyer Konstantin Rifkin repeated the defense team's complaint that the judges had largely ignored the evidence it presented.
"The evidence of witnesses is cited very selectively -- what fits with what the prosecution is saying goes into the verdict while there is complete silence on explanations or conclusions that favor our clients," Rifkin said.
In the defendants' cage, Khodorkovsky doodled on a pad while Lebedev did crossword puzzles. There were free seats in the courtroom, which up to this week had been crowded with spectators including the defendants' families and journalists. Khodorkovsky's parents Boris and Maria were in the courtroom Thursday.
Outside the court, dozens of pro- and anti-Khodorkovsky demonstrators rallied across the street from one another. "The future lies with Khodorkovsky," read one banner; "Khodorkovsky: Your money smells of blood," read another.
Robert Amsterdam, a member of Khodorkovsky's international law team, cautioned against predicting when that final verdict would come. He told the small group of journalists who showed up at Thursday's session that the court might move quickly if it sees little media interest.
"In one minute, you won't know what happened and you'll be out of there," he said outside the Meshchansky court.
The trial has raised questions about rule of law in Russia, while the partial nationalization of Khodorkovsky's Yukos oil company against a disputed $28 billion back tax bill has spooked investors and shaken business executives' faith in property rights.
I mean, you try reading this fast!
Easy job, two days would be enough! :)
I’m curious what they would do if this judge who is reading this verdict become sick? New judge would start read from the beginning? :)
No. Russian judges never get sick. Ever!
What's this?
Gotta have those confessions, doncha know.
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