2003-2005 Trial
The arrest of Khodorkovsky by masked special forces armed with machine guns, and the removal of Lebedev from his hospital room, proved to foreshadow how the state's machinery of justice would run the proceedings against them.
"Basmanny justice," a reference to the Basmanny District Court of the City of Moscow where Khodorkovsky was taken after his arrest, has now entered the lexicon as a phrase describing Russia's subservient judicial system, where judges are fired for issuing rulings not to the liking of state officials, and where rule of law is largely absent.
The lengthy criminal investigative process continued well beyond the initial incarceration period of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev. Investigators, and subsequently the Meshchansky Court of Moscow, on numerous occasions extended the detention periods for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev. On several occasions, this was done even without a decision by the court or any pretense of due process.
Lebedev several times drew the attention of the courts to this flawed practice. However, only his application to the Constitutional Court of Russia forced the judicial authorities to change their methods. Thanks to Lebedev's efforts, the Constitutional Court, which fully acknowledged that he was right, found the practice of keeping arrestees in detention without a court decision to be contrary to law and ordered that this finding be applied in Lebedev's criminal case. Unfortunately, none of the court instances to which Lebedev and his defense team applied did that.
Trial proceedings began on June 16, 2004, and continued for almost a year, concluding on May 31, 2005. The Meshchansky Court found Khodorkovsky and Lebedev guilty of almost every charge and sentenced them to nine years in prison. This sentence was reduced by the Moscow City Court to eight years during an otherwise unsuccessful appeal process.
Extensive defense evidence was simply discarded by the court and the text of the verdict was essentially copied from the prosecution's indictment. On the day of the court's verdict, the Prosecutor General's Office announced it would file new charges of money laundering against the defendants.
The court and prosecution committed numerous procedural and due process violations during the proceedings while, outside the courtroom, state authorities unlawfully expropriated the assets of Khodorkovsky, Lebedev, and Yukos. Russian and international human rights groups, as well as legislative and political bodies in Europe and the United States, were vocal in their objections to the arrest and political persecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev.