Judges drop Khodrkovsky forgery charge
Judges in Moscow dropped a forgery charge against oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky today as they renewed reading the voluminous verdict in the closing act of the most closely watched trial in Russia’s post-Soviet history.
As the verdict phase of the trial entered its eighth day, defence lawyers downplayed the decision by the Meshchansky Court to drop the relatively minor charge of forging official documents as it relates to a separate charge of tax evasion. Most observers say what the judges have read so far indicates the court will find the billionaire guilty on charges that also include fraud.
