Meshchansky Court Absorbed in the Verdict

The second week of reading of the verdict against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev will get underway today in Moscow's Meshchansky District Court. The court has already found them guilty of two counts of large-scale fraud in the acquisition of 44 percent of the shares of the Research Institute of Fertilizers and Insectofungicides and on the return from the budget of taxes (407 million rubles) paid previously with YUKOS bills. If the court continues to read the verdict at its previous rate of three and a half hours a day, the reading won't be finished this week either.


The three judges began reading the verdict against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev last Monday. The first two days were taken up with the so-called fundamental part of the verdict, which listed the crimes of which the accused were found guilty. Although the first episode in the Prosecutor General's conviction was embezzlement of 25 percent of OAO Apatit's shares, this charge was not included in the fundamental part of the verdict. Instead it began with the second episode – failing to execute a court order to return 20 percent of Apatit's shares to the state. Lawyers for the accused believe that in the first episode, the judges will issue an order to dismiss the criminal case on “nonrehabilitative circumstances” connected with the expiry of the ten-year statute of limitations for taking legal action against the accused. As it continued to read out the fundamental part of the verdict, the court also found Khodorkovsky and Lebedev guilty of misappropriating proceeds from the sale of OAO Apatit's products and of causing damage to the company's owners. Then, proceeding to the next episode, the judges stated that the accused were guilty of fraudulent acquisition of 44 percent of the shares of the Research Institute of Fertilizers and Insectofungicides, which owned two buildings on Leninsky Prospekt, and failing to execute court rulings on returning these shares to the state. However, as Igor Mikheev, one of Khodorkovsky's lawyers, explained to the Kommersant correspondent, no such court order existed; there was only a decision on annulling the contract of sale between the Russian Federal Property Fund and AOZT Wollton, whose guarantor was Bank MENATEP. The court also found YUKOS guilty of tax evasion amounting to more than 17 billion rubles from the sale of oil, and Khodorkovsky and Lebedev guilty of evading taxes as private individuals by receiving remuneration from offshore companies on the Isle of Man. The court also found Khodorkovsky guilty of embezzling 2.6 billion rubles belonging to YUKOS in favor of firms belonging to Vladimir Gusinsky. Going on to the reading of the operative part of the verdict, which the lawyers estimate consists of more than 500 pages, the court read out only the evidence for the episode connected with the fraudulent acquisition of the shares of the Research Institute of Fertilizers and Insectofungicides. The reason why it is taking so long to read out the operative part is that the court is engaged in reading for only 3 – 3.5 hours per day, and at 13:30 – 14:00 announces a recess until the following morning. Recall that during the trial, presiding judge Irina Kolesnikova often conducted sessions until 21:00 or 22:00. Now the court is in no hurry to go anywhere, which has led another of Khodorkovsky's lawyers, Yury Shmidt, to believe that, during the second half of the day, the judges finish writing the verdict or correct it. Vladimir Krasov, one of Lebedev's lawyers, believes that the court's is connected with the intention to finish reading the verdict simultaneously with preparation of the records of the proceedings. Then lawyers with access to the records will not have enough time left to prepare a reasoned appeal of the verdict.

Meanwhile, the police officers guarding the area around the Meshchansky Court give another reason for the lack of haste in reading the verdict. The fact is that everyone entering the court is subject to screening and a thorough search. If participants in the proceedings left for a lunch break, they would have to be screened and searched again on their return, and several agencies are involved in the process, including the FSB, special forces, Ministry of Justice bailiffs, OMON, and the patrol service of the Main Administration of Internal Affairs (GUVD). Screening and searching every participant twice a day would be difficult, and this is why the proceedings end at lunchtime. If the court continues to read the verdict at the previous rate this week, the reading will last longer than two weeks. Lawyers for the accused were already prepared to spend many days in court and are taking turns being present at the reading. They say the courtroom is very stuffy, but the judges refuse to open the windows in order to prevent passersby from listening to the sessions, and will not turn on the air conditioner especially installed during preparations for these proceedings. Lebedev's lawyers fear that his being in a stuffy room might make his already weak health even worse. Last Friday, Lebedev was no longer occupied with his favorite activity – doing crossword puzzles – but was dozing with his head resting against the iron bars. And for the first time, as he listened to the verdict, Khodorkovsky allowed himself a gesture he had not allowed during the trial – he stopped up his ears.

Kommersant will continue to follow the reading of the verdict.

by Ekaterina Zapodinskaia

(Kommersant, 5.23.2005)