Russian Oil Tycoon Guilty of Embezzlement

A file photograph shows Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former head of Russian oil company Yukos, behind cage bars during a session of the Meshchansky court, Moscow, Russia. Photo by BGNES

Former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev have been found guilty of embezzlement and money laundering Monday, BBC reports.

This is Khodorkovsky's second trial in Moscow. He is already serving an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion. The 47-year-old was due to be released next year, but the under the latest verdict he could remain behind bars until 2017.

Khodorkovsky's supporters maintain the case is politically motivated.

Several hundred gathered outside the courtroom, chanting "Freedom!" and "Put Putin in jail!" Police made a number of arrests, according to BBC.

After announcing the guilty finding, the judge asked journalists to leave the court before beginning to read out the rest of the verdict.

Delivering the full verdict and sentence is expected to take several days.

In the latest trial, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev are accused of stealing hundreds of millions of tons of oil from the Yukos oil company and laundering the proceeds between 1998-2003.

Khodorkovsky claims innocence, saying that a state that destroys its best companies and trusts only the bureaucracy and the special services is a sick state.

Many believe the government wants the former tycoon kept behind bars for as long as possible because he challenged former President and now Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, by financing the opposition.

In a TV interview last week, Putin called Khodorkovsky "a thief who belongs in prison".

On Saturday, Germany said it was following the trial very closely.

"This trial is considered a test of the rule of law in Russia," German Ambassador to Russia Ulrich Brandenburg told Russia's Interfax news agency.

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