| Mikhail Khodorkovsky was left under arrest for another two months The Basmanny Court of Moscow on Friday extended for another two months - until May 25 - the detention period of the former head of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. His lawyers seemed to expect nothing less, and some of them left the courthouse before the final decision was announced.
For the first time during Mr. Khodorkovsky’s stay behind bars, representatives of the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center and the court decided to start Friday’s hearing as usual, and not with the help of a teleconference or a performance with the “secret” delivery of the accused in several “dummy” cars. The former head of YUKOS was brought to the Basmanny Court as a simple defendant in the morning, long before the hearing scheduled for 13.00. They brought him into the hall just as easily - along a common corridor, without evacuating all strangers, simply asking those present to step aside.
Even before the start of the meeting, Mr. Khodorkovsky's lawyers - Genrikh Padva, Anton Drel, Karina Moskalenko and Vasily Aleksanyan - once again unanimously expressed their indignation at the actions of the Prosecutor General's Office. According to them, investigators warned them that the trial would take place on Friday, only on Thursday afternoon (the last period of Mr. Khodorkovsky’s detention expires only on March 25). They were even more indignant when, already at the meeting, a representative of the prosecutor's office, Valery Lakhtin, said that his materials justifying the need to leave Mr. Khodorkovsky in prison totaled 400 pages. On this occasion, the lawyers demanded that the judge postpone the hearing to March 23, and when he refused to do so, they filed a petition to disqualify the judge. After consulting with himself, Mr. Rasnovsky announced to the defenders that they had been denied a challenge, as well as a postponement of the hearing. They were given one hour to familiarize themselves with the prosecution's arguments.
In fact, the question of the fate of Mr. Khodorkovsky began to be considered in the evening. The prosecutor, as before, said that Mr. Khodorkovsky, if released, could hide, put pressure on witnesses and even continue his criminal activities. It was noted that the former head of YUKOS has several places of residence, including abroad, and a “stable” financial situation - in 2002 alone he received dividends in the amount of $5 million, and for nine months of 2003 - - more than 19 million dollars. The lawyers, as usual, offered to release their client from prison on any conditions - on bail of a billion, guarantees from 20 famous people, etc. However, the prosecutor said: “The purpose of detention is isolation from accomplices and witnesses. House arrest or bail cannot ensure such isolation.” And the court completely agreed with this. Alexey GRISHIN |
|
