In court Mikhail Khodorkovsky continues to expose investigation methods

After a three-week recess the Ingodinsky district court is continuing to examine the complaint of Khodorkovsky’s lawyers against the unlawful nature of the investigators’ actions.

During Wednesday’s hearing the court studied the documents presented and heard the arguments of the defence and the prosecution. Mikhail Khodorkovsky declared that he was not being allowed to question the experts. “The findings of these expert investigations were presented either by a non-specialist or a forger. Not one single figure corresponds to the company’s official statements.” The prosecutor did not agree with Khodorkovsky’s conclusions and considered that the experts were sufficiently prepared.

“I am accused of having stolen oil from Yukos subsidiaries yet there is not one set of financial records in the case file,” declared Khodorkovsky. “I have not been shown the original evidence but only that which is derived from it and contradicts itself. The Yukos accounts for the third quarter of 2003 and all other quarterly accounts are missing from the files.”

Khodorkovsky says that copies of certain materials, which are also to be found in Yukos’ electronic data base, were received by the defence team from the relevant federal agencies but have not been permitted to add them to the case documentation. “Material evidence from the Yukos’ electronic data base have been withheld from me,” said Khodorkovsky indignantly, “which prevents a checking in court of the results of these expert examinations.”

The Sofit electronic data base contains information about the perimeter of consolidation of the Yukos group of companies, explained their former CEO. “And if funds are to be found in the perimeter of consolidation then no one has stolen them,” he concluded.

At the same time, Khodorkovsky points to the contradictory data concerning the perimeter of consolidation in the expert assessments contained in volume 113 of the case documentation. He further drew the court’s attention to a ban on his defence team having access to the Galactica accounting base, the data base for disclosure of information about stocks and shares, and others.

Requested by the defence attorneys to hand over the Yukos electronic data base the prosecutor responded with a refusal. One of his arguments was the “data base might then be destroyed”.

After both parties had spoken and the presented materials had been studied the judge declared a recess until Friday.

(Interfax, 29.07.2008)