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Mr Khodorkovsky was
found guilty at the end of the 11-month
trial
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Former Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been jailed for nine years
after being found guilty of six charges including tax evasion.
But his ordeal may not be at an end as Russian prosecutors have said
they will soon bring fresh charges against him.
The news came as Mr Khodorkovsky was found guilty
of six of the seven charges of tax evasion, fraud and embezzlement
he had faced.
Meanwhile, his lawyers said he would take his appeal to Europe.
As well as appealing against the ruling at Russia's Supreme Court, Mr
Khordokovsky will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights,
they added.
US President George W Bush said that he had expressed concerns to
Moscow that Mr Khodorkovsky was judged guilty before even standing trial.
"As I explained to him (Putin), here you're innocent until proven
guilty, and it appeared to us - at least people in my administration -
that it looked like he had been judged guilty prior to (having) a fair
trial," President Bush said.
He added that the US would watch the case as it continued.
Mr Khodorkovsky is actually expected to serve seven-and-a-half years in
jail as the court said his prison term should be reduced because of the
amount of time served on remand since his arrest in 2003.
He will serve his time at a medium security prison camp.
But in a statement read out by his lawyer he pledged to continue his
public activities behind bars.
It
added he would set up "charitable foundations" to support Russian poetry and philosophy
and set up a union for Russian inmates.
(BBC) |