Azernews.Az

MOSCOW – Acourt in Moscow has found jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner, Platon Lebedev, guilty of stealing billions of dollars of oil from their own company in a second trial many said was a test of the country's authoritarian regime, Radio Liberty reported.

Khodorkovsky's sentence is expected after the judge finishes reading the full verdict, a process that may take several days. But many believe the man who was once Russia's richest financial oligarch will stay in jail at least through Russia's next presidential election in 2012.

Outside the courthouse, Khodorkovsky supporters chanted "freedom" and "shame." They say the charges against him are politically motivated.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the central Moscow court, where police arrested at least 20 people.

Inside, a reporter for Radio Liberty's Russian Service said Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev, who was also found guilty, sat impassively in a glass cage as the verdict was being read. Khodorkovsky's elderly father, Boris, held his head in despair.

Khodorkovsky is already serving an eight-year sentence on charges of fraud and tax evasion following his arrest in 2003.

He's since been accused of stealing $25 billion of oil from his own company, Yukos, and laundering the proceeds, an allegation brought months before he was eligible for parole in 2007. Many believe he and Lebedev were charged as an excuse to keep them in jail, possibly until 2017.

The judge today said Khodorkovsky and Lebedev carried out a series of false deals to enable themselves to steal oil from Yukos's subsidiaries.

Khodorkovsky's lawyer, Vadim Klyuvgant, said Khodorkovsky would appeal the verdict because the decision was made under political pressure.

"If the court was free and independent to make this decision, it couldn't have been able to make any decision but an acquittal," Klyuvgant said. "What we are hearing is not a direct, but certainly an indirect, confirmation of this fact. The court wasn't free to make the decision. We will certainly appeal the verdict after it is announced in full."

Khodorkovsky's verdict was due to be read earlier this month but was postponed in a move Kremlin critics believe was meant to minimize publicity by taking place during the winter holidays.

Speaking before the verdict's first scheduled start, Maxim Dbar, spokesman for Khodorkovsky's defense team, called the accusations against their client "absurd," saying they contradicted the outcome of his first trial.

"The main thing the charges are missing is an actual crime," Dbar said. "Even after 20 months of trial, no one understands what Khodorkovsky is actually accused of."

Political expert Kirill Rogov told Radio Liberty's Russian Service that Monday's decision represents an important development in Russian history because it shows the authorities in Russia don’t rule on a legal basis.

"The contract [between the authorities and the people] is becoming increasingly tattered," Rogov said. "It's happening slowly, but today's verdict is a signal that will play an important role in that process."

In his final statement during the trial, Khodorkovsky said the process showed the officials running Russia's "bureaucratic and law enforcement machine" are free to do whatever they want.

"There is no right of private property," he said. "No person who conflicts with the 'system' has any rights whatsoever."