Jailed Russian oil tycoon 'sure he will be cleared'

Published on Friday 5 August 2005 01:05

THE jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment in a case many observers say was motivated by political revenge, said yesterday that he believes the sentence will be overturned.

However, Khodorkovsky, who has been behind bars since his arrest in October 2003, said he believed the appeal process could take several years.

Khodorkovsky was convicted of fraud and tax evasion in May after a 13-month trial that was widely viewed as part of a Kremlin-directed campaign to punish him for funding opposition parties and to impede his presumed personal political ambitions.

While he was in jail, his oil company, Yukos, was hit with billions of pounds in back tax bills. Its major production unit was auctioned off by the state to partially meet the tax arrears, eventually being obtained by the state oil company Rosneft after initially being bought by an apparent shell company (a company which exists in name only).

In the interview published in the newspaper Vedomosti, Khodorkovsky repeated his frequent contention that the prosecutor's office and trial judge were under intense political pressure, and said: "I'm sure the sentence will not just be reduced but overturned by the Russian Supreme Court - some time after three or four years."

President Vladimir Putin's term ends in just under three years.

Khodorkovsky once was assessed as being Russia's richest man, a title now held by the oilman and Chelsea Football Club owner, Roman Abramovich.