Courtroom Report: February 15, 2010
After theatrical posturing and a late witness, the prosecution called Mr. Ilya Yurov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TRUST National Bank, to the witness stand. Amid Mr. Khodorkovsky's objections about the relevancy of Mr. Lakhtin's, Mr. Yurov testified about the bankruptcy of Bank MENATEP, where the latter worked from 1994 through early 1999. As would happen several times during today's hearing, Mr. Lakhtin was forced to defend his line of questions. His explanation that Mr. Yurov's testimony provided vital background information necessary to understand the subsequent testimony about "laundering of embezzled funds from crude oil" was met with a forceful objection from Mr. Lebedev, who reminded the court that neither he nor Mr. Khodorkovsky was accused of "laundering embezzled funds."
The prosecution continued to focus on Bank MENATEP's bankruptcy. Mr. Yurov discussed various efforts undertaken by the bank's management to stave off liquidation. Additionally, Mr. Yurov explained that, through careful planning and maneuvering, the bank's majority shareholders were able to prevent the auctioning off of controlling block of bank's shares. Through well-documented restructuring efforts, public and business reputation of the bank's owners continued to grow.
Another topic piquing the prosecution's interest was Trust and Investment Bank (DIB), its assets and Mr. Yurov's purchase of DIB and Bank MENATEP SPb from MFO MENATEP. Some of Mr. Lakhtin's forays into these topics were unsuccessful, with the court striking the prosecutor's questions. At one point during the morning session, as he tried to prevent Mr. Lebedev from objecting, Mr. Lakhtin was issued a first on-the-record warning since the trial's beginning.
The defense had ample reasons to object to Mr. Lakhtin's questions. In addition to the ever-present issue of relevancy, Mr. Lebedev reminded the court that Mr. Yurov was identified as "an accused" in case #18/41-03, based on the interrogation transcripts in the case file. This was the second time that Mr. Lebedev raised the issue. The first time, prior to his warning, Mr. Lakhtin argued that Mr. Lebedev was interfering and threatening the witness.
Mr. Lebedev continued to object to the irrelevancy of Mr. Lakhtin's questions, as when Mr. Lakhtin sought to question Mr. Yurov about acquisition of media assets, by having the latter comment on a copy of an e-mail on the subject. Mr. Lebedev told the court that the e-mail was used as an exhibit in Meschanskiy Court during the first trial to support indictment count alleging illegal acquisition of media assets. Mr. Lebedev explained that Messrs. Lakhtin and Shokhin knew that that count was subsequently thrown out on appeal. Mr. Lebedev asked why the circumstances of that transaction were being re-examined in Khamovnicheskiy Court.
Despite Mr. Lebedev's objections, including a reminder that Mr. Yurov was named as "an accused" in another case, Mr. Lakhtin was allowed to question Mr. Yurov about his buyout of DIB and Bank MENATEP SPb from MFO MENATEP. It seemed that Mr. Lakhtin was particularly interested in stating that in order to negotiate the purchase Mr. Yurov flew to London to meet with Mr. Nevzlin.
The courtroom witnessed a sullen tantrum, as the court refused Mr. Lakhtin's request for a case volume which wasn't on a previously submitted list and told him to work with the case volumes he previously requested. Mr. Lakhtin began speaking about Volume 162, then, realizing that it also was not in the courtroom, began complaining that he was prevented from asking questions in a logical order. Even after the clerk brought Mr. Lakhtin additional volumes, Mr. Lakhtin would not continue with his questions. After leafing through both volumes, Mr. Lakhtin, with a sullen look on his face, pushed them towards Ms. Ibragimova and remained sitting silently. Judge Danilkin, seeing the impasse, offered to call a break. Refusing at first, Mr. Lakhtin mumbled that he would need 10 minutes to mark the pages he needed. Judge Danilkin called a 10 minute break and Mr. Lakhtin bolted from the courtroom, with a round of laughter in pursuit. He was back a minute later, carrying a pack of red post-its. Ms. Ibragimova and he busied themselves selecting pages from both case volumes.
The rest of the hearing was spent on going over documents related to repurchase of YUKOS shares and Bank MENATEP's collection rights from several foreign banks. Soon, Mr. Lakhtin asked to adjourn the hearing, blaming Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev for interfering with his questioning. Judge Danilkin seemed amused by Mr. Lakhtin's "finger-pointing."
After Mr. Yurov left the courtroom, Mr. Khodorkovsky told the court that Mr. Yurov was asked to testify about [his purchase of DIB]. Mr. Khodorkovsky reminded the court that while in custody, but in full compliance with [the Prison Code], he entered into various private transactions. Mr. Khodorkovsky argued that the prosecution was violating his privacy and told the court that it was inappropriate for his private matters, wholly unrelated to the charges, to be examined in at the trial.
The trial will resume on Tuesday, February 16, 10:30 Moscow Time.