Nearly half of the sentence has been read for now, said the lawyers of Lebedev, Menatep Group CEO.
"The defense has made some conclusions. Here are the principal: the court considers all transactions were colorable-that is, fictitious-because they were paid by promissory notes, while involved organizations were, de facto, no juridical persons as they engaged in capital investment alone, and never in commerce," said Elena Lipzer, one of the lawyers.
The defense pointed out an abundance of redundant information included in the sentence.
"I am under an impression that the court thinks the longer a sentence is the better-grounded it will appear," said Lipzer.
Top-notch Genrikh Padva, one of the lawyers of Khodorkovsky, did not attend today's hearings, though he came for a lunch break to encourage his client.
During the reading, Lebedev was doing crossword puzzles and Khodorkovsky was making notes.
Pickets gathered not far from the court premises to support them. There were over 35 protesters, mainly seniors, said police officials. The people were chanting, "Free Khodorkovsky and Lebedev!"
The prosecution had incriminated Khodorkovsky and Lebedev in eleven charges on seven Criminal Code clauses, and insisted on ten-year imprisonment for each of the convicted.
It demanded a five and a half years prison term with a five-year probation period for Andrei Krainov, a former director general of Volna Co.. He was accused of deliberate nonperformance of a court verdict after it entered legal force, of fraud and property tort.
