The Court will proceed to sentencing on the second case of Yukos

Khamovnichesky Court in Moscow today to start sentencing the former head of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and former head of Menatep Platon Lebedev on the second criminal case. The defendants are suspected of stealing oil and money laundering. The prosecution demands the punishment of imprisonment for a term of 14 years, taking into account the eight-year term to which M. Khodorkovsky and P. Lebedev were sentenced for the previous case.

Sentencing will begin at 11:00 GMT.

On the eve of trial in the second case of the former heads of Yukos, the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev asked senior European officials, human rights activists, scholars, writers who have called ... Khodorkovsky, t. to. ' in reality it is not motivirovano zakonom '.

European human rights activists have supported the initiative, and Russian rock musicians. They also appealed to the A. Medvedev a letter, asking the president to ensure an independent judiciary. Their signatures to a petition put Boris Grebenshchikov, Mr Shahrin, Alexander Sklar, Andrei Makarevich and other. ' We did this not for personal PR, but in the hope that our opinion is worth something - said in an interview with Andrei Makarevich, ...

In addition, in support of the former heads of Yukos ' shares were held in Moscow and Yekaterinburg, organized by the opposition. In Yekaterinburg, human rights activists gathered at the central square, carrying placards with portraits of M. Khodorkovsky and P. Lebedev. Participants in the Moscow campaign lit on Pushkin Square 2605 candles - just as many days M. Khodorkovsky has spent in custody.

On Monday, December 13, M. Khodorkovsky and his lawyer, NE. Schmidt was awarded the prize named after Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt for his human rights activities. The honorary award was given to the mother M. Khodorkovsky's Commissioner for Human Rights of the Government of Germany Markus Lening, who noted that the trial of a businessman accused of embezzlement of oil major, is ... However, present at the awards ceremony Bundestag speaker said that the case of ex -head of Yukos demonstrates that ...

Recall, the second case against M. Khodorkovsky and P. Lebedev is based on the allegations of stealing other people's property in an organized group. Injured as a result of these individuals are subsidiaries of NK Yukos. In addition to the theft of stock, M. Khodorkovsky and P. Lebedev charged with theft of oil in an amount of 200 million barrels. On the first trial of 2005. defendants were convicted on six articles of the Criminal Code and sentenced to nine years in prison.




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