sexta-feira, 22 de outubro de 2010

Russian prosecutors demand 14 years for Khodorkovsky, Lebedev in second case

Russian prosecutors demanded 14 years in prison for former Yukos oil major CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev in a second case against the businessmen.
Earlier in October, the prosecution asked a court to find the two men guilty of stealing 218 million tons of oil from a subsidiary company of Yukos between 1998 and 2003.
The prosecution has reduced by 131 million tons the volume of oil that former Yukos oil major CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were charged with stealing.
The defense was extremely outraged by the prosecutor's demand to sentence Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to 14 years for the second charges.
Last week the court said it had enough evidence to prove Khodorkovsky and Lebedev's guilt.
The two oligarchs are already serving eight-year sentences for fraud and tax evasion. In May, they were accused of stealing $9.6 billion from the $15.8 billion profit generated by Yukos between 1999 and 2003, as well as 350 million tons of oil.
The prosecutor cited arithmetic errors and lack of evidence for the new turn of affairs.
RIA Novosti