Khodorkovsky tied in legal knots

By Richard Galpin
BBC News, Moscow

Mr Khodorkovsky went from Russia's richest man to being a lowly convict

The small grimy entrance to the warren of courtrooms near the Moscow river was overflowing with journalists, photographers and camera operators.

We joined the queue outside, standing under the downpour of melting ice, waiting our turn to pass through the security check.

But once through, we were not taken to the actual court where the former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was appearing.

Instead we were ushered into a side room, where three television screens had been set up for us to watch proceedings from a distance.

On one we could see a large empty chair where the judge would sit once the hearing got under way.

On the other screens a group of lawyers chatting to each other.

Official secrecy

We were just settling down to what was to be a day of riveting viewing when a security man walked in and switched them all off.

MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY 1963 - Born in Moscow, son of chemical engineers 1980s - Sets up computer and software business with fellow students 1987 - Founds Menatep bank 1994 - Buys fertiliser company Apatit at auction 1995 - Buys oil company Yukos for $300m, with Menatep assuming $2bn in debt 2003 - Arrested for tax evasion, embezzlement and fraud 2004 - Court case begins 2005 - Found guilty on six of seven charges and sentenced to nine years 2005 - Appeals court upholds all but one count, cutting his jail sentence to eight years 2009 - Goes on trial in Moscow on new charges of misappropriation of property, embezzlement and illegal financial operations

Whilst he had let us have a glimpse of the courtroom, the preliminary hearing itself - as is normally the case - was not for the attention of the assembled media.

The reaction was a sarcastic outburst of applause and cries of "bravo" from the journalists. Then we left, frustrated by officialdom.

Meanwhile Mr Khodorkovsky himself had arrived from the detention centre in Moscow where he has been staying for almost a week.

His normal home is a prison camp in deepest Siberia, to which he was banished in 2005 after being convicted of massive tax evasion and fraud.

Glass cage

Television cameras were allowed to witness his arrival and we could see that he looked in reasonable health.

He smiled and shook hands with his former business partner Platon Lebedev, with whom he is standing trial, as they entered the sealed glass cage inside the courtroom, where they will be spend much of the coming months.

His mother Marina Khodorkovskaya will also be spending much of her time inside the courtroom once the trial gets under way properly.

Mr Khodorkovsky appeared alongside former partner Platon Lebedev

She has continued to run the special school for disadvantaged children set up on the outskirts of Moscow by her son, even though his former oil company Yukos has now been dismantled and sold off (most of it to the state-controlled firm Rosneft).

Speaking to me earlier this week just after visiting her son in the Moscow detention centre, she said he was ready to fight the new charges of embezzlement and money-laundering.

"The charges are completely absurd," she said, "but I have little hope of a good outcome."

When I asked whether her son was ready for another long stretch in prison, despite hoping last year he might be released on parole from his first conviction, she said he was.

"It's not unexpected. He knows about this government."

Mr Khodorkovsky's defence lawyers have also dismissed the charges as absurd.

They are convinced it is a deliberate move to prevent him ever walking free from prison.

Political figure

There are several theories why the government wants Mr Khodorkovsky to remain behind bars.

Most focus on his growing involvement in opposition politics before he was first arrested in 2003.

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As Russia's richest man he had the potential to cause the president at that time - Vladimir Putin - serious difficulties, as he was outspoken and critical.

He was also in control of the country's biggest oil company, just as the Kremlin was moving to bring strategic resources and much else back under state control.

And there were rumours that he might sell a stake of Yukos to a major American energy company.

While Mr Putin is no longer president, he is still very much in power as Russia's prime minister and he does not like being criticised.

Crackdown on dissent

Certainly outside the courtroom on Tuesday the handful of Mr Khodorkovsky's supporters who came out to protest said he was the victim of a political witch-hunt.

"Khodorkovsky will stay in prison for another 20 years at least, or at least until this regime changes," said Tatyana Kadieva.

"If we want justice, it should apply to everybody, not just to him. Why is he being singled out?"

It was only a matter of minutes before the demonstrators were dispersed by the police.

The most vociferous were dragged away to a waiting police van as they shouted "release all political prisoners!"

The police said it was an illegal protest.

The prosecutor's office declined our request for an interview.

But the prosecutor-general Yuri Chaika has been quoted as saying the new charges against Mr Khodorkovsky concern "particularly grave" alleged crimes.

And certainly most ordinary Russians will not be bothered if Mikhail Khodorkovsky is locked away in a Siberian jail for many more years.

They view all the oligarchs, who took advantage of the chaos of the 1990s to acquire the country's most precious resources at ludicrously low prices, with deep suspicion, if not outright disgust.