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Defence cries foul as new Khodorkovsky trial begins
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Defence cries foul as new Khodorkovsky trial begins
AFP - Wednesday, March 4
MOSCOW (AFP) - - A new trial of jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on charges of financial crimes began on Tuesday with his lawyers issuing a string of objections to the process.
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Khodorkovsky and fellow defendant Platon Lebedev shook hands as they took their places inside a bullet-proof transparent booth in the heavily guarded courtroom in front of dozens of television cameras.
The former head of the Yukos oil giant who was once Russia's richest man risks a sentence of more than 22 years if found guilty, a penalty that could keep the 45-year-old in prison well into his sixties.
After a full day of initial hearings on procedural issues which were closed to the press, Khodorkovsky, cutting a modest figure in a black woollen hat, was led out in handcuffs by guards.
Defence lawyers protested against the holding of the defendants in a courtroom "cage" -- which is nonetheless usual practice in Russia -- as well as the identity of the prosecutors involved.
Defence lawyer Karinna Moskalenko alleged that courtroom guards had prevented Khodorkovsky and his lawyers from sharing documents crucial to the tycoon's defence.
"This is a violation of rights. The confidentiality of the contacts between the defence lawyers and the accused must be preserved," she said.
Moskalanko also confirmed that the judge had denied a defence request to remove prosecutor Dmitry Shokhin and his team.
Shokhin led the original trial that ended in 2005 with Khodorkovsky being found guilty of fraud and tax evasion and given a nine-year prison sentence, which was later reduced to eight years.
That trial was seen as a defining event in the presidency of Vladimir Putin, prompting critics to claim Khodorkovsky was being made a scapegoat in a warning to other members of the super-rich "oligarch" class.
"They (the prosecutors) want at any price to get what they want and not what is in accordance with the law," said Khodorkovsky's lead lawyer Vadim Klyuvgant.
"No proof has been presented. How can there be proof when nothing has been committed?" he told journalists. "The investigation has been as bad as it could have been."
He added later that the judge had turned down a defence request for the pair to sit in the open rather than in the "cage". "It is unfortunate the court did not divert from customary practice to isolate the accused."
The prosecutors made no comment to the press.
In the latest trial, running as Khodorkovsky is still serving his original jail term, the former tycoon faces wider charges of massive embezzlement and money-laundering.
A statement for his lawyers said the two defendants were accused of embezzling the entire production of the now defunct Yukos oil company and of laundering hundreds of billions of rubles in cash.
As the session got under way, four supporters of the tycoon were arrested after unveiling a banner from a bridge near the court that read "Freedom for Khodorkovsky!" the Echo of Moscow radio station reported.
Security was tight inside the court, with the entrance to the chamber blocked by burly, black-clad special forces police.
Commentators have been split over the attitude of President Dmitry Medvedev towards Russia's most famous prisoner. Since taking office last May the new president has stressed the need for Russia's courts to be independent.
With many critics likening Khodorkovsky's first trial to the show trials of the Soviet era, some believed that Medvedev might be more lenient towards the ex-tycoon, who before his arrest openly financed opposition parties.
Khodorkovsky was flown last week to Moscow from his Siberian jail and driven to a holding centre in a limousine with tinted windows.
His critics argue he is criminally responsible for the methods used to take advantage of the bargain-price sell-off of valuable Russian state assets in the 1990s.
But supporters and activists allege his arrest was instigated by Putin, who is now prime minister, and the so-called "Siloviki" group of powerful ex-intelligence agents led by his right-hand man, Igor Sechin.
Khodorkovsky lawyer Natalya Terekhova told reporters after the hearing that her client would be "open, transparent and ready to reply to any question" in the trial.
The initial hearings were to resume on Wednesday. The court still needs to set a date for the trial proper to begin and decide whether it will be open or closed to the media.
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