RUSSIA: Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Khristenko gives evidence in trial of ex-Yukos boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Record ID: 193398

  • Title: RUSSIA: Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Khristenko gives evidence in trial of ex-Yukos boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky
  • Date: 23rd June 2010
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JUNE 21, 2010) (REUTERS) MEDIA BY KHAMOVNICHESKY COURT HOUSE SIGN READING IN RUSSIAN "KHAMOVNICHESKY DISTRICT COURT. MOSCOW" LAWYERS, SECURITY OFFICERS IN COURT ROOM PLATON LEBEDEV'S LAWYER, KONSTANTIN RIVKIN TALKING ON PHONE EX-YUKOS HEAD MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY AND HIS EX-PARTNER PLATON LEBEDEV BEING LED INTO COURT ROOM BY SECURITY OFFICERS TWO SECURITY OFFICERS IN COURT ROOM KHODORKOVSKY IN GLASS CAGE, SPEAKING WITH HIS LAWYER WIDE OF COURT ROOM, LAWYERS, SECURITY OFFICERS, KHODORKOVSKY AND LEBEDEV IN GLASS CAGE KHODORKOVSKY'S MOTHER IN COURT ROOM, TALKING TO LAWYER LEBEDEV AND KHODORKOVSKY IN GLASS CAGE READING COURT CASE FILES LAWYERS BY COMPUTERS, SECURITY BY GLASS CAGE IN COURT ROOM MINISTER VIKTOR KHRISTENKKO ARRIVING AT KHAMOVNICHESKY COURT HOUSE, GETTING OUT OF CAR, ENTERING COURT MEDIA KHRISTENKO LEAVING COURT, MEDIA TAKING PICTURES KHRISTENKO'S CAR LEAVING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PLATON LEBEDEV'S LAWYER KONSTANTIN RIVKIN, SAYING: "We are satisfied with the answers of Viktor Borisovich Khristenko which he gave in connection with the accusation [of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev] of stealing oil. From our point of view his answers are destroying this accusation completely." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MARINA KHODORKOVSKAYA, MOTHER OF MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY SAYING: "It was quite decent. Some people who had less reasons to be afraid than him have said really disgusting things. And he was at least quite decent." MEDIA
  • Embargoed: 8th July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABRMWPL24UT76LQBRMFAXZMCAN
  • Story Text: Russian Industry Minster Viktor Khristenko appeared in a Moscow court on Tuesday (June 22) to testify at the new trial of jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
    The trial of Khodorkovsky, who is serving an eight-year sentence and faces up to 22 more years in prison if found guilty in the new trial, is seen as a bellwether for Russia.
    President Dmitry Medvedev has urged reforms to a judicial system which he acknowledges is marred by corruption and political influence, but critics say little has changed since he took office in May 2008.
    Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man and owner of oil giant Yukos, was originally convicted of fraud and tax evasion in 2005. His supporters say that trial was part of a Kremlin-driven campaign to punish him for challenging Medvedev's predecessor, Vladimir Putin, and to tighten the state's grip on the oil industry.
    Yukos was bankrupted by tax claims and sold mostly to state-run companies, deepening concerns in the West about the rule of law and property rights in Russia.
    Critics of Putin, now prime minister and still seen as holding Russia's reins, contend the new charges were trumped up to keep Khodorkovsky in prison beyond a 2012 election in which Putin has not ruled out a return to the presidency.
    In the second trial, which began last year, Khodorkovsky is accused of stealing $30 billion worth of oil from Yukos production subsidiaries between 1998 and 2003 by paying them less for the oil than it was subsequently sold for.
    His lawyers wanted the court to call dozens of officials including Putin to testify, part of an attempt to establish that Yukos followed common practices that were accepted by the government and did not break the law.
    The judge has allowed only a few, including Khristenko and German Gref, a former economics minister who is now CEO of state-controlled Sberbank.
    Viktor Khristenko, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade in the current cabinet, said he had no information of a theft of 30 billion U.S. dollars worth of oil. TV crews were no allowed to film his testimony in the court room.
    Khristenko said that physical theft of oil was a problem that had been there before and still existed, it was linked to illegal tapping into the pipelines. But he was not aware of the cases of a physical theft of millions of tons of oil, he added.
    Defence lawyer Konstantin Rivkin said Khristenko' testimony helped Khodorkovsky's case.
    "We are satisfied with the answers of Viktor Borisovich Khristenko which he gave in connection with the accusation of stealing oil. From our point of view his answers are destroying this accusation completely," Rivkin said.
    Khodorkovsky's mother Marina praised Khristenko's testimony as brave.
    "It was quite decent. Some people who had less reasons to be afraid than him have said really disgusting things. And he was at least quite decent," she said.
    Khodorkovsky, once an outspoken critic of Kremlin, alleged his trial and the legal assault against YUKOS were orchestrated by enemies inside Putin's team to punish him for challenging the Kremlin and to strengthen the state's grip over the oil industry.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register