Russian tycoon sentenced to 9 years

Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced to nine years in prison after he was found guilty of fraud and tax evasion on Tuesday.

• FROM: MAY 17, 2005 Still no final verdict in Russian oil boss's case

The sentence came on the twelfth day of reading the verdict. Khodorkovsky, who was arrested in October and has been in prison ever since, was charged with tax evasion, fraud and embezzlement.

The nine-year sentence will be reduced for time the 41-year-old Khodorkovsky has already served. He has spent 583 days in jail, meaning he would serve about another 7½ years in prison.

When asked if he understood when the sentence was pronounced, Khodorkovsky, who has denied all charges, said "no sane person" could understand the verdict.

Many have claimed the arrest of the former head of the Russian oil giant Yukos was politically motivated.

Khodorkovsky, once believed to be Russia's richest man, angered the Kremlin when he openly funded opposition political parties in defiance of President Vladimir Putin. He also sought foreign investment to build a private oil pipeline, something that has always been controlled by the state.

However, Kremlin officials say the justice system is merely cracking down on fraud and corruption.

Also sentenced to nine years on the same charges was Khodorkovsky's business partner Platon Lebedev. A third defendant in the case, Andrei Krainov, was given a 5½ year suspended sentence.