Russian court finds Former Russian oil tycoon Khodorkovsky guilty

[cowcommander]

Source: BBC

Former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been found guilty of embezzlement at his politically charged second trial in Moscow.The judge said Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were guilty of stealing from their firm Yukos and laundering the proceeds.

Khodorkovsky is already serving an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion from his 2005 trial. His supporters maintain the case against him is politically motivated. Khodorkovsky, 47, was due to be released next year, but the new convictions could see him jailed until 2017. The two defendants were led into court in handcuffs by armed guards.

In the sealed glass dock Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man. waved at his parents, the small courtroom packed with journalists and cameras. Several hundred demonstrators could be heard outside the courtroom, chanting "Freedom!" and "Put Putin in jail!"

Police made a number of arrests.


Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12081564

[Sancho]

1. I don't know anything about Khodorkovsky, but...

it sounds like the Russians are doing better than we are at putting the crooks in jail.

[Kolesar]

2. the case against him is politically motivated--no kidding

Putin is a horror.

[social_critic]

5. On the other hand, Khodorkorvsky is indeed a crook

I assume you do know about the rise and fall of the Russian oligarchs like Khodokorvsky? if you don't, I can fill you in, i was there. I met the man.

[cowcommander]

12. Would he have been worse than Putin?

Seems like he would've been the lesser evil. Russia's in such a shit state now under him.

[xchrom]

3. politically motivated is an understatement. nt

[MrModerate]

4. The last time the Russians had a revolution, they ended up eating their own.

Why should this time be any different? Sure Khodorkovsky is a criminal embezzler of the first order. But so are all of his fellow opportunists who were quick enough to snatch up trillions of rubles worth of state assets in the chaos of perestroika.

He offended the Tsar (crossed the big boss) and got his teeth kicked in. Smaller fish than him just got dead. On balance, he might prefer his fate. If he can ever get out of the country alive, I'm sure he's got a zillion dollars tucked away somewhere.

[social_critic]

6. Much more than a criminal embezzler

His acts went beyond mere embezzlement. His mafia organization carried out kidnappings and murder, laid siege to whole towns to obtain shares from the workers, bribed politicians with huge sums of money, and he essentially stole most of his wealth. Indeed, most of the large oligarchs who did engage in the most awful practices are either behind bars or had to flee to other nations, where they bask in the limelight and are praised as "democrats" by the media they control, or is controled by their buddies.

So you see, this story has a lot more to it than "Putin is an evil dude", the line being fed to you by the media these guys happen to have bought off.

[rpannier]

8. Some of what you say may be true

But the charges didn't develop until he announced he was planning on running against Putin and then suddenly he was on the radar.

Just for point: 1. My sister-in-law is from Russia
2. Her mother lives in Russia
3. I live in East Asia and get quite a bit of Russian TV
4. I speak Russian
5. My brother and sister-in-law live in eastern Europe

So, please do me the courtesy of avoiding the, "The US media id feeding you a line stuff."

[Arrowhead2k1]

15. He should have thought twice before preparing to cast stones from his glass house.

Politically motivated or not, he's not innocent and is getting what he deserves.

[MrModerate]

9. I defy you to identify which oligarchs' mafia terrorized which workers . . .

In that most of the state apparatus was up for grabs by the quick and the well connected and those willing to stop at nothing to get it. And many of the oligarchs are sitting happily today -- in Russia -- on top of their piles of stolen wealth; and the mafia in a million different forms is self sustaining; and Putin is indeed an evil dude.

[thereismore]

10. Where does Berezovskii fit in on the spectrum? I hear he is filthy rich,

but is he a crook like Khodorovskii, or did he just get rich in the Wild East?

[leveymg]

7. It's hard to say where politics and money are different in Russia. But, it appears the prosecutions

of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev followed an effort on their part to sell-off a large part of Yukos, the largest private oil company, to Exxon-Mobil. The Soviet state intervened and through a front company bought up the shares in a rigged auction at a fraction of the expected market price.

Khodorkovsky postures as a dissident, but he's really a rival elite who was jockeying for power within the extremely corrupt post-Soviet oligarchy.

[AlphaCentauri]

11. US slams Russia for Khodorkovsky verdict

The guilty verdict brought against Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky will have a "negative impact on Russia's reputation," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday.

The chief US diplomat said in a statement that Khodorkovsky's conviction in his second fraud trial "raises serious questions about selective prosecution -- and about the rule of law being overshadowed by political considerations."

"This and similar cases have a negative impact on Russia's reputation for fulfilling its international human rights obligations and improving its investment climate," Clinton added.

Khodorkovsky and co-accused Platon Lebedev were convicted of embezzlement and money laundering, dashing the hopes of Russian liberals that the trial would show a new approach from Russian courts.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hbmPPRMKpjJedEjbF2t_rlX2uV_g?docId=CNG.742e6f8c140c9fad9f90528e14966d4e.221

[ceile]

13. I wish I could pull up my favorite "facepalm" pic.

Something about too stupid for words...

[bemildred]

16. The usual complete lack of any sense of irony ...

"raises serious questions about selective prosecution -- and about the rule of law being overshadowed by political considerations."

[ceile]

14. Finally.

How long had he been fighting these charges? Too long...

[Joanne98]

17. YAY