The former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev have no chance of being released on parole after being sentenced to a total 14-year jail term on Thursday, Russian leading lawyers said.
Moscow's Khamovnichesky Court sentenced both former Yukos bosses to a total of 14 years behind bars for theft of oil and embezzlement.
"There will not be any progress towards the easing-off of the sentence until the presidential elections in 2012," one of Russia's celebrated lawyers Vadim Prokhorov said, describing the verdict as "the brightest sign of chaos and a mockery of justice."
Prokhorov said the court's decision was utterly predictable. "We have now got about a half-percent acquittal rate, which is 18 times less than in 1949 under Stalin's dictatorship."
The Khodorkovsky trial is viewed by many as politically motivated, and ordered by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to punish former oil tycoon for funding the liberal opposition in the early 2000s, when Putin was president.
Robert Zinovyev, a member of the Moscow Chamber of Attorneys said the court's ruling was not surprising since the courts are traditionally pressured by the authorities and their judgements reflect the authorities' attitudes toward such prominent cases.
When asked about Khodorkovsky during his annual televised Q&A session on December 16, Putin said that thieves should be imprisoned. He said his answer could not been regarded as pressure on the court during the current trial, as he was referring to the sentence already passed on Khodorkovsky.
Khodorkovsky's lawyer, Vadim Klyuvgant said his legal team was planning to investigate those involved in hounding businessmen.
"We will initiate a criminal prosecution against all those guilty of this felon outrage," Klyuvgant said.
MOSCOW, December 30 (RIA Novosti)
