RUSSIA: OIL MAGNATE MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO CHARGES INCLUDING FRAUD AND TAX EVASION

Record ID: 344936

  • Title: RUSSIA: OIL MAGNATE MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO CHARGES INCLUDING FRAUD AND TAX EVASION
  • Date: 17th July 2004
  • Summary: (U6) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JULY 15, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. MV MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY STANDING BEHIND BARS WITH FELLOW DEFENDANT, PLATON LEBEDEV; SLV EXTERIOR COURT BUILDING; MV GENRIKH PADVA, ONE OF THE LAWYERS REPRESENTING MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY WALKING OUT OF COURT 1.10 2. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PADVA, SAYING: "They pleaded not guilty to any charges and after that the court hearing was closed for today and will continue tomorrow at 1030 (0630 GMT) when Khodorkovski and Lebedev will comment on the charges against them, they have rights to do that." 1.37 3. MEDIA OUTSIDE COURT, GATHERED AROUND PAVDA; SLV POLICE VANS DRIVING AWAY FROM COURTHOUSE 2.00 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 1st August 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW,RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVA3TCO9WF1066HET655E3S7AOXS
  • Story Text: Oil magnate Khodorkovsky has pleaded not quilty to
    charges including fraud and tax evasion.

    Russian oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky pleaded
    not guilty to charges including fraud and tax evasion in a
    Moscow court room on Thursday (July 15, 2004).

    Khodorkovsky told the court that he wished to plead
    'not guilty' to all the points on which he has been charged.

    His co-defendant Platon Lebedev, also a key shareholder
    in oil giant YUKOS, also entered a not guilty plea.

    The prosecution opened the case after months of appeals
    and postponements.

    The 41-year-old tycoon was seized aboard an aircraft in
    October 2003. He faces charges of fraud and tax evasion
    that could put him way for ten years.

    The trial receives much attention as YUKOS confronts
    crippling tax demands and its fate hinges on Khodorkovsky's
    ability to reach a deal with the Kremlin.

    Co-defendant Platon Lebedev and Khodorkovsky, old
    friends from long before the Russian justice system brought
    them together, followed the charges from a wooden bench
    inside their cage.

    Khodorkovsky has made YUKOS one of post-Soviet Russia's
    prime success stories, producing a fifth of its oil and
    attracting foreign investors with Western-style governance
    standards.

    But his funding of opposition parties has earned him no
    favours within the Kremlin.

    It was Lebedev's arrest a year ago that first alerted
    investors to troubles at YUKOS.


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