Media and public kept away as oligarch goes on trial in `shoebox`: Khodorkovsky defence counsel says choice of
venue for fraud hearing makes a mockery of Kremlin`s promise of openness
ByLine: TOM PARFITT in Moscow
LAWYERS ACTING for Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the jailed billionaire and Russia's richest man, have discovered that
the country's most controversial post-Soviet trial is likely to be held in a cramped courtroom large enough for
only a handful of people.
Yuri Schmidt, the oil tycoon's defence counsel, said that the discovery called into question the Kremlin's
promise of transparent proceedings.
"If it is in such a small courtroom that only a few people can fit in, then there will not be enough space and
[the trial] will be a complete insult to justice," he told The Sunday Telegraph.
The trial of Mr Khodorkovsky, who has an estimated fortune of pounds 8 billion, begins on Wednesday before a panel of
three judges. His prosecution for alleged fraud and tax evasion is widely seen as retaliation by President Vladimir
Putin for Mr Khodorkovsky's funding of opposition politicians.
Preliminary hearings in the case were held behind closed doors, forcing Mr Khodorkovsky's family and supporters
to stand behind the court in an attempt to catch a glimpse of him.
Although authorities promised that the trial itself would be an "open process", an official at the
Meshchansky district court in northern Moscow, where it will be held, said: "There is a problem with the capacity
of the courtroom. The process will be open but there are many representatives from both sides. Some people may have to
stand in the corridor."
She refused to answer inquiries about the dimensions of the room, its capacity and the method of allocating seats,
saying that such questions were "very strange". The court's more spacious chambers may be in use for
other trials, she said.
Courtrooms in Russia can be as small as 9ft by 12ft, making public access almost impossible. Irina Khakamada, a
liberal politician who challenged Mr Putin for the presidency earlier this year, said: "In the West, prosecutions
like this are transparent: journalists cover them easily, the public can attend.
"In Russia, conditions are created to make it practically impossible to see or hear the process. Either the
bench is too short, the room is too small or the authorities keep changing their mind on whether it's open to the
public or not."
Khodorkovsky's case has been combined with that of Platon Lebedev, another shareholder in the Yukos oil company,
who faces similar charges.
The so-called oligarch has spent the past eight months in a detention centre cell, where he is fed on thin soup and
porridge. He was arrested at gunpoint in October on a Siberian airfield and taken back to the capital to face seven
criminal charges. A personal tax demand of pounds 400 million was added to the indictment last week.
Many observers believe that official contempt for the court process demonstrates that the outcome of the trial is a
foregone conclusion. Boris Berezovsky, the self-exiled oligarch who lives in London and is a critic of the Kremlin,
said: "He will undoubtedly be convicted. President Putin has no choice now but to ensure that Khodorkovsky remains
in jail for a long time. He would be too much of a threat if he was let out early."
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