UK CITIZEN FACED INTIMIDATION AND HARRASSMENT FOR HIS TESTIMONY IN KHODORKOVSKY TRIAL

13 Aug 2010
Khodorkovsky and Lebedev Communications Center

On Thursday August 12, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation attempted to subpoena Steve Wilson, a British citizen and key witness in the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, regarding their open investigation into case 18/41-03 which relates to YUKOS.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation attempted to summon Stephen Wilson, who worked at YUKOS from 2002 till 2006, inside the Moscow court house where he gave evidence today as a witness for the defence in Khodorkovsky's trial. Khodorkovsky, the former Head of YUKOS, stands accused of embezzling the entire oil production of YUKOS. If convicted, he could face an additional 15 years in prison in what is widely known to be a politically-motivated trial.

Wilson is the first foreign witness and only UK citizen to have testified in this show trial, who has been sought after by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.

Outlining in court today how YUKOS was legitimately structured and how the charges of money laundering and embezzlement are absurd, Wilson's testimony proved extremely damaging to the prosecution and was the likely reason as to why the State Prosecutor Valery Lakhtin sought to intimidate the witness though accusations of tax evasion and developing a foreign structure scheme to help Khodorkovsky facilitate embezzlement and laundering; and why the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation attempted to subpoena him after the court had adjourned for the day.

A member of Khodorkovsky's International Legal Team who was present at the time the subpoena was attempted to be enforced upon Wilson said: "This tactic by the Russian Prosecutors is a deliberate attempt to intimidate foreign witnesses and scare them into not coming to Russia and testifying in support of Mr Khodorkovsky."

The summons was issued on behalf of Tatyana Rusanova who was made notorious after it had been discovered that she offered the former YUKOS Vice President Vasily Aleksanyan medical treatment (who suffers from cancer) in return for testifying against Khodorkovsky.

A number of foreign witnesses plan to testify in the Khodorkovsky trial to expose the absurdity of the charges being brought against him. Tactics such as those used today by investigators will likely be seen more and more to ensure Khodorkovsky does not get a fair trial.

Meanwhile, Gazeta.ru reports that Konstantin Rivkin, a lawyer for Khodorkovsky, believes that the summons of Wilson is a sign of a parallel investigation being carried out into the circumstances of the second case against Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. Rivkin said "We have been talking about it on several occasions...yesterday we got yet another confirmation that the prosecutors tried to get a new portion of evidence from the case No.18/41-03." He added: "We should praise the court for their refusal to allow it." Rivkin also suggested that Wilson's summons could be a warning to other witnesses who are yet to testify in the case.