Current Trial Background

On February 5, 2007, Russian prosecutors brought new allegations against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev. Those allegations ensured that Khodorkovsky and Lebedev would not be released from prison when they would have been eligible for parole after having served half of their original eight-year sentence. Khodorkovsky was denied parole in 2008.

The new allegations, amended in June of 2008, are for embezzlement and laundering of stolen property. The investigators allege that Khodorkovsky and Lebedev embezzled the entire production of YUKOS over a six-year period. In a statement made by Khodorkovsky on October 22, 2008, referring to the investigation that has been open for nearly two years, he asked the "investigative group not to humiliate itself and the country with making knowingly absurd assertions."

The investigation into these allegations has been extraordinarily drawn out. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev have endured numerous procedural violations and erratic behavior by the investigators. In November 2008, investigators rejected a request by the defense to introduce evidence which Khodorkovsky and Lebedev insist would result in dismissal of these baseless allegations. Notwithstanding the protests of the defense team, the court refused to grant a defense complaint against the investigators' rejection. The court also refused to grant a defense complaint, against the investigators' failure to explain to Khodorkovsky and Lebedev the essence of the charges brought against them. In response to the court's decision, the defense stated: "The investigators have committed serious procedural violations in pursuing this case. They will not even answer legitimate questions from the defense concerning the allegations under investigation. The defense considers this investigation to be incomplete and replete with violations of Russian law. The fairness of any trial to follow will be compromised by these and other legal defects."

Moreover, the fact that the allegations are being investigated in the far eastern city of Chita, and not in Moscow, is a clear violation of Russian law, which stipulates that the investigation and trial of the case should be conducted in the place where the alleged crimes were committed.

On January 26, 2009, the defense team and Mikhail Khodorkovsky were asked to sign a protocol acknowledging the completion of the defense team's and Khodorkovsky's review of the case materials.

In response, both the defense team and Khodorkovsky made a motion stating that they were not able to complete their review of the case because they were illegally limited in time to do so by the prosecution.

As a result, the defense called the investigation incomplete and conducted with numerous violations of Russian law. To support the defense's position, the defense requested the prosecution include over 470 individuals in the list of witnesses and experts to testify at trial as well as over 270 documents that the investigation previously refused to attach to the case materials.

On January 27, 2009, the defense lawyers of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev filed a motion to dismiss the charges against the men. Citing the numerous violations of their clients' constitutional rights and lawful interests that have been allowed, the attorneys assert that it would be impossible for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to receive a fair trial.

On February 16, 2009, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office finalized the indictment against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev. The preliminary hearing for the defendants will take place in Moscow on March 3, 2009.

The arrest, prosecution and conviction of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, as well as the new charges against them, are politically motivated. Not only are the charges groundless, they are contradictory and attempt to retroactively define regular business activities as criminal acts. The prosecution has systematically manipulated evidence, and deprived the defendants of their rights to remove these men from public life and take away their property, making a fair trial and a just outcome impossible.