MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- A Moscow court Monday convicted former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner of embezzlement and money laundering.
Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, who have already spent seven years in prison for tax evasion, could now get seven more years, RIA Novosti reported.
The Khamovniki court ruled the men led an organized group committing financial crimes through their Yukos oil company.
"Khodorkovsky, Lebedev and (other) members of the criminal group used the embezzled money according to their own will, mostly for their own enrichment; some money was being invested ... to create further possible embezzlement," Judge Victor Danilkin said.
The court also ruled Yukos had signed fake agreements with its subsidiaries on the purchase of oil, buying oil products from them at prices that were half or a quarter of the average.
Amnesty International Monday called the trial unfair and politically motivated and said the verdict should be overturned.
The group said defense lawyers were not allowed to cross-examine state witnesses and their witnesses were prevented from testifying. It added that former Yukos staff members were pressured to testify for the prosecution.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the trial and conviction raise "serious questions about selective prosecution" and pledged to monitor the appeals process.
"This and similar cases have a negative impact on Russia's reputation for fulfilling its international human rights obligations and improving its investment climate," Clinton said.
"We welcome President Medvedev's modernization plans, but their fulfillment requires the development of a climate where due process and judicial independence are respected."
