Yukos trial hears first testimony

The first witness to testify in the controversial trial of embattled Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky appeared in court Friday, defending the jailed tycoon against charges he lied in a business deal 10 years ago.

"I don't think they lied to us," said Anatoly Pozdniakov, former director of fertiliser production company Apatit.

"They just didn't give us the money," he said.

Khodorkovsky and his erstwhile top associate, Platon Lebedev, face a catalogue of fraud and tax charges in connection with their acquisition during the 1990s of firms that now constitute the Yukos group, Russia's largest oil producer.

Those charges include the illegal acquisition of a 20% stake in Apatit, then run by Pozdniakov. Although Khodorkovsky did not pay cash for the shares, he settled railway transport and electricity bills instead, the witness said.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, 41, once Russia's wealthiest person, has been jailed since October after he was arrested and later charged with massive fraud and tax evasion.

He has denied all charges and pleaded not guilty.

His case is widely described outside Russia as a Kremlin attempt to punish Khodorkovsky for funding political movements opposed to President Vladimir Putin.

HERE