Whatever the new year may hold for most of us in the oil and gas industry, it will likely resemble nothing close to what’s in store for jailed Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev.
Remember them? If not, recent reports say that a court in the city of Chita, where the men are jailed, has extended custody for them until Feb. 8, pending a new investigation into their activities.
The new charges against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, who were convicted of fraud and tax evasion in 2005, include stealing government shares, expropriating oil, and laundering $25 billion earned from oil sales in 1998-2004.
The new investigation was upheld by the Moscow City Court on Sept. 19, 2007, while Russia’s Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 25 that the investigation was legal. How’s that for a Christmas present?
Khodorkovsky, who acquired oil assets through privatization deals in the 1990s, insists that his prosecution was orchestrated by the authorities to silence his criticism of President Vladimir Putin, and as part of a campaign to bring oil and gas assets under the Kremlin’s control.
State control
Once Russia’s largest oil producer, Yukos collapsed after claims of tax evasion, which led to the company being broken up and sold off to meet debts. State-owned Rosneft bought most of Yukos’s assets.
Lawyers for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev plan to appeal the Supreme Court’s ruling at the European Court of Human Rights.
“Everything that has taken place in connection with this case has already been translated into the official languages of the European Court,” the former oil tycoon’s lawyer, Yury Shmidt, said.
But don’t hope for much—especially given the experience of former Yukos Vice-Pres. Vasily Aleksanyan, who is currently in custody, and insisting on the need for hospitalization due to his grave illness.
“Russia must comply with already the third instruction from the European Court of Human Rights about my urgent hospitalization to a specialized civilian clinic from the prison where I am now,” Aleksanyan wrote in a letter from the pretrial detention facility.
No pity
The letter said that more than a year ago, following a forensic examination, Aleksanyan was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
“Already at that time my condition required intensive chemotherapy to ease symptoms and to prolong life. Experts said in their report that my staying in prison directly depends on how soon the chemotherapy will start,” the letter said.
“By October this year, my condition has become life-threatening. And from Oct. 16, 2007, the prison’s medical staff started recording a daily fever of over 38° C.,” Aleksanyan said.
“Even prison doctors had to acknowledge that in such condition I cannot participate at trial and investigation procedures,” he said.
Neither Russian authorities nor the Federal Prison Service were immediately available for comment on this matter. If you are awaiting a comment, don’t hold your breath.
