Russian court postpones Khodorkovsky verdict

A court Wednesday postponed the verdict in the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky for almost two weeks, in an unexpected twist to the long-running legal saga against Russia's ex-richest man.The verdict in the trial of Khodorkovsky and his co-accused Platon Lebedev was eagerly awaited as giving a signal for Russia's future orientation ahead of 2012 presidential polls seen as a crossroads for the country.

A Moscow court on Monday found jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky guilty in his second trial on charges of embezzlement, Russian news agencies reported.The court found Khodorkovsky and his co-accused Platon Lebedev guilty of embezzlement, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported. They had been charged with embezzling 218 million tonnes of oil.Only a handful of reporters were allowed into the courtroom for the verdict and judge Viktor Danilkin then requested even those journalists to leave as the rest of the verdict was read out.

A Moscow court on Monday found jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky guilty in his second trial on charges of embezzlement, Russian news agencies reported.The court found Khodorkovsky and his co-accused Platon Lebedev guilty of embezzlement, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported. They had been charged with embezzling 218 million tonnes of oil.Only a handful of reporters were allowed into the courtroom for the verdict and judge Viktor Danilkin then requested even those journalists to leave as the rest of the verdict was read out.

A court will Wednesday begin announcing the verdict in the second trial of Russia's ex-richest man Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a case watched globally as a critical moment in its post-Soviet history.Khodorkovsky, already serving an eight-year sentence for tax evasion, is on trial on new charges of money laundering and embezzlement that could see the head of the now defunct Yukos oil giant receive another heavy jail term.

Russian ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky will receive a new jail sentence in his second trial, the judge said Thursday, adding his crimes required "isolation from society".Judge Viktor Danilkin was speaking as he appeared to be finally coming to the culmination of his verdict on Khodorkovsky and co-accused Platon Lebedev, whom he had already found guilty of money laundering and embezzlement Monday."The correction of Khodorokvsky and Lebedev is possible only by way of their isolation from society," he told the court.

A Moscow court found tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky guilty in his second fraud trial, provoking condemnation from the West over a case seen as an indicator of Russia's political future.Khodorkovsky and co-accused Platon Lebedev were convicted of embezzlement and money laundering, said judge Viktor Danilkin, dashing the hopes of Russian liberals that the trial would show a new approach from Russian courts.The United States led some stinging Western reaction, with the White House saying it was "deeply concerned" about the "selective application of justice".

The defence of ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Friday appealed a court decision to extend the Kremlin critic's jail stay until 2017 in a case watched by the West as a barometer of Russia's democratic progress.The challenge came as Russia stared down a barrage of international criticism of a politically-tinged trial in which the Yukos oil company founder and his co-defendant Platon Lebedev received the toughest sentence they could.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of interfering in the country's most famous trial since the Soviet era.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday issued a chilling message to jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky as he held a presidential-style question and answer session with Russian citizens."I believe that a thief must be in prison," Putin said when asked to comment on the case of Russia's former richest man in his annual question and answer session.Khodorkovsky, already serving an eight-year sentence in a case that has become a rallying point for Russian liberals, is awaiting the verdict in his second trial on charges of embezzlement.