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Khodorkovsky's parole denied by Russian Court

Other News Materials 22 August 2008 13:38 (UTC +04:00)

A Russian court on Friday denied granting parole to former Yukos oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, news agencies reported.

Khodorkovsky, 45, once Russia's richest man, applied for parole having served over half of an eight-year jail term for large-scale tax evasion charges against his former oil company Yukos.

The court ruled he was convicted of crimes that posed a serious threat to society and he should serve out his sentence, reported dpa.

"The court ruled to deny parole, and the decision can be appealed within 10 days," said the judge in the Siberian town of Chita, where Khodorkovsky is jailed.

Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev have accused the sentence of being part of a political revenge by former president Vladimir Putin to seize control of his oil empire and eliminate Khodorkovsky from gaining ground in politics.

Khodorkovsky's lawyers filed for parole on July 16, saying their hopes were based on President Dmitry Medvedev's clement rhetoric after he took office in May.

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