Ex-Tax Director Questioned in YUKOS Case
Russian prosecutors summoned a former tax director at PricewaterhouseCoopers for questioning just minutes after he spoke as a key witness for the defense in the second trial against Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
The witness in question was Stephen Wilson, a British former international tax director for the international accounting firm in Moscow. Investigators with the Russian prosecutors' office served Wilson with papers as he tried to leave the courtroom, following his testimony.
The Financial Times comments that the move increases the pressure on the defense as the second trial nears its climax. Sanford Saunders, one of the members of Khodorkovsky's defense team, said: "This is a clear effort to intimidate him and other future potential defense witnesses." People close to the defense fear the prosecutors efforts could go further than questioning.
Few former foreign associates of Khodorkovsky have agreed to give testimony for the defense in the second trial for fear of backlash from the Russian authorities. Wilson, who from 2002 to 2006 served as YUKOS' in-house international tax advisor, faced a barrage of questions yesterday from prosecutors cross-examining him after he testified that YUKOS' vertically integrated structure was in line with international norms and laws. Wilson also testified that it was impossible for Khodorkovsky to have embezzled YUKOS oil or siphoned off the proceeds from crude sales.
The team of Russian prosecutors led by Valery Lakhtin hurled a number of insinuations at Wilson. Many of these questions were disallowed by the judge, who often yelled at Lakhtin to control himself. After one such attack, Wilson said "I'm not trembling", while the judge quickly interposed and said Lakhtin "has just overdone it."
The Financial Times notes that the trial is being closely watched as a key test of the pledge made by President Dmitry Medvedev to uphold the rule of law. Critics say the charges are absurd and that a second conviction for Khodorkovsky would be a sign that Medvedev is a cipher for the Putin regime.