久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

  Home>News Center>World
         
 

Russian YUKOS owner on trial 8 months after arrest
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-06-16 08:50

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the main owner of oil giant YUKOS, goes on trial on Wednesday in what many see as a government-inspired campaign to jail the nation's richest business tycoon and despoil him of his wealth.

The downfall of Khodorkovsky, the foremost of Russia's fabulously rich oligarchs, is said by analysts to be the work of people in the Kremlin who fear he was using his wealth to sway public policy and mount a challenge to their authority.

Khodorkovsky will be tried along with his close business associate Platon Lebedev, also a major shareholder in YUKOS, at the Meschchansky district court in Moscow on seven counts of fraud and tax evasion.

The trial is an important test-case for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has said he wants justice to run its course in the YUKOS affair. He has also warned tax evasion will not be tolerated and other captains of industry may face prosecution.

Human rights activists accuse Putin of manipulating the judicial process to suit the state's interests.

Wednesday's hearing is part of a two-pronged judicial assault on YUKOS and its owners which comes to a head this week and could pitch the company into bankruptcy.

A Moscow court will hear an appeal on Friday by Russia's tax ministry aimed at forcing YUKOS to pay a $3.4 billion bill for back taxes immediately.

If the court finds in favor of the tax authorities, as expected, YUKOS says it may go bust because another court has frozen the company's assets, making it impossible for YUKOS to raise enough cash in time to pay the tax bill.

LAWYER EXPECTS CONVICTION

A member of Khodorkovsky's legal team said he was in little doubt both men would be convicted and receive jail sentences of up to 10 years.

"They are going to be found guilty. We know the outcome," Robert Amsterdam, a Toronto-based lawyer, told Reuters. "It is a show trial to help the government expropriate YUKOS," he added.

Some analysts believe that if YUKOS is driven out of business, Khodorkovsky and his associates, who control the oil group through a company called Menatep, will be dispossessed of their prize asset.

Investors appear to be giving up hope of any chance of a negotiated settlement with the authorities that could let YUKOS off the hook. YUKOS shares on Tuesday were at one point 14 percent down at $6 on Moscow's RTS exchange, its lowest level for more than two years. "I personally do not see any other scenario apart from bankruptcy," said Stephen Dashevsky, an oil and gas analyst at Aton brokerage in Moscow.

Opinions differ on whether a broken YUKOS would be taken over as a going concern by court-appointed administrators or carved up with the choicest morsels being thrown to Russian state energy enterprises such as Gazprom or Rosneft.

Amsterdam said he believed the trial could be adjourned for a number of days to enable a member of Lebedev and Khodorkovsky's defense team to recover from medical treatment.

Khodorkovsky's trial will be the most prominent of a business figure since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Khodorkovsky has been held in pretrial detention since his arrest in October and Lebedev since last July.

Some western lawyers say Lebedev and Khodorkovsky, accused of making liberal use of offshore financial havens to conceal profits and minimize tax payments, may have a case to answer.

The two face seven criminal charges, including one of fraudulently obtaining shares in Apatit, a fertilizer firm which was privatized in 1994

Lawyers, acting for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, say the defendants acted within the law.

 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

China opposes US bill to help Taiwan join WHO

 

   
 

Oil drilling deal inked with Uzbekistan

 

   
 

Two corrupt media pros punished

 

   
 

Compensate passengers for delayed flights

 

   
 

Education on AIDS to be compulsory

 

   
 

US general: I'm told to treat POWS like 'dog'

 

   
  Russian YUKOS owner on trial 8 months after arrest
   
  Bush on Saddam handover: Must stay in jail
   
  Al-Qaeda group threatens to kill US hostage
   
  Iraq wants Saddam by end of the month
   
  Report: Evidence shows Sept. 11 attacks were delayed
   
  Afghan leader calls for NATO to send more troops
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Russia's richest man to be tried
   
Russia prosecutors say seized more YUKOS papers
   
Russia central bank deputy fears capital flight
   
Russian-born American heads YUKOS
   
Khodorkovsky quits as YUKOS chief
   
New Kremlin head casts doubt on YUKOS prosecutors
   
Russia faces fallout from YUKOS share seizure
  News Talk  
  Does the approval of UN resolution on Iraq end daily bloodshed there?  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 欧美日韩国产免费一区二区三区 | 午夜影院在线免费 | 日韩一级黄色毛片 | 一级做a爰片久久毛片苍井优 | 久久久国产精品免费 | 美女黄色免费在线观看 | 婷婷亚洲久悠悠色在线播放 | 亚洲成人7777 | 久久99毛片免费观看不卡 | 日本久久久久久久 | 亚洲一级毛片在线播放 | 亚洲美色综合天天久久综合精品 | 日韩欧美精品一区二区三区 | 香蕉成人国产精品免费看网站 | 日本乱人伦片中文字幕三区 | 国产午夜不卡在线观看视频666 | 在线观看99 | h亚洲 | 国产在线观看免费一级 | 国产精品亚洲专区在线播放 | 高清在线观看自拍视频 | 在线精品亚洲 | 国产成人在线视频网站 | 久久久久久久久久久观看 | 久久国产免费 | 国产一级毛片夜一级毛片 | 日本在线亚州精品视频在线 | 欧美另类性视频在线看 | 毛片一区二区三区 | 国自产精品手机在线视频香蕉 | 直接在线观看的三级网址 | 亚洲无吗 | jizz国产精品免费麻豆 | 日本尹人综合香蕉在线观看 | 天天夜天干天天爽 | 韩国免费a级毛片 | 国产小呦| 成人国产第一区在线观看 | 久草在线视频资源 | 泰国情欲片寂寞的寡妇在线观看 | 欧美激情视频一区二区免费 |