Ex-Yukos chief in not guilty plea

Published on Friday 16 July 2004 12:14

MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY,the ex-chief executive of oil giant Yukos, today pleaded not guilty to a number of charges, including tax evasion, that could see him jailed for up to ten years.

Russia’s richest man, who was arrested at gunpoint nearly eight months ago in a Siberian airport, has been charged with tax evasion, fraud, misappropriation and forgery.

But answering the charges, he said: "I have understood the indictment presented, and I plead not guilty to all counts," according to Russian news agency reports.

Mr Khodorkovsky entered his plea after prosecutors read the lengthy case against him and co-defendant Platon Lebedev while they sat inside a metal security cage in the Meshchansky district court.

Mr Lebedev, who has been jailed for more than a year, also pleaded not guilty, his lawyers said. He also claimed: "I don’t understand what is going on in this court."

The judge hearing the case had granted Mr Khodorkovsky’s request to delay making a full, formal response until today.

It will be the first time that Mr Khodorkovsky formally lays out his defence in the case, which has put his honour, the fate of Russia’s largest oil producer, and Russia’s reputation as a law-ruled state in peril.

The case is part of a complex web of legal actions, including a 1.8 billion back taxes bill that Yukos, Russia’s largest oil producer, says could see it fall into bankruptcy.

Russian authorities maintain the lawsuits against Yukos and Mr Khodorkovsky are part of an anti-corruption drive. However, critics have said it is a Kremlin-led retaliation for the tycoon’s political aspirations and growing clout.

The charges centre on the 1994 privatisation of a company that makes a key fertiliser component - one of the deals that helped Mr Khodorkovsky build an empire that made him Russia’s richest man.