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Khodorkovsky, Lebedev declared guilty in second trial

© RIA NovostiKhodorkovsky, Lebedev declared guilty in second trial
Khodorkovsky, Lebedev declared guilty in second trial - Sputnik International
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Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were declared guilty by the judge at the culmination of their second new trial in Moscow's Khamovniki court on Monday.

Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were declared guilty by the judge at the culmination of their second new trial in Moscow's Khamovniki court on Monday.

The court began announcing the verdict at around 11.00 a.m. Moscow time (08.00 GMT).

The verdict announcement was originally due to begin on December 16, but the court suddenly postponed it until December 27 without any explanation.

Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, who have already spent seven years behind bars for tax evasion, are facing new charges of embezzling 218 million tons of oil from Khodorkovsky's former oil firm Yukos and laundering over 3 billion rubles ($97.5 million) in revenues.

The two men face up to 14 years in jail, though a sentence has not yet been handed down. Both defendants have repeatedly maintained their innocence and claimed that the charges against them were politically motivated.

The Khamovniki court has called off the live broadcast of the verdict announcement for the press, preventing over 100 journalists from covering the event.

Only cameramen of Russian and foreign TV channels and over 30 representatives of print media have been allowed into the court. Some 150 other journalists are queuing in front of the building.

The defense for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev earlier said prosecutors could press a third set of charges against the ex-Yukos executives in the near future.

When asked about the Khodorkovsky case during his question-and-answer session on December 16, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said: "I think that a thief should be in jail."

MOSCOW, December 27 (RIA Novosti)

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