U.S. Magistrate Agrees to Khodorkovsky Request for Discovery of Chevron

The following is a press release from the Mikhail Khodorkovsky defense team: U.S. Magistrate agrees to Khodorkovsky request for discovery of Chevron — LONDON, August 31 – Lawyers for Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former CEO of Yukos, have announced that a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the Northern District of California has signed an order granting third-party discovery for the defense team to obtain due diligence documents related to Yukos from the oil company Chevron. The filing by the Khodorkovsky defense team argues that Chevron’s due diligence will provide “valuable evidence . . . that will refute the allegations of embezzlement and money laundering. … Were there any truth to the accusation, Chevron would have undoubtedly detected the widespread criminal misconduct alleged, and would not have continued to pursue the acquisition.” Robert Amsterdam, international counsel to Mr. Khodorkovsky, commented, “This is just the beginning of a global evidence-gathering process that is necessary because the procuracy of the Russian Federation is not a fact-gatherer but rather, an enforcement arm of a Kremlin bent on consolidating the state theft of Yukos. After the landmark Swiss Court ruling, it is patently clear that the ongoing prosecution of Khodorkovsky represents a continuing abuse of process under Russian and international law that requires that all actions against Mr. Khodorkovsky be stayed.” Robert Amsterdam, a founding partner of the law firm Amsterdam & Peroff, is international defense council for former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He maintains a blog at www.robertamsterdam.com. ###