With courtroom theatrics, former Head of YUKOS outlines the absurdity of the charges against him MOSCOW, April 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Tuesday 6th April 2010, a year after his second trial began, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former YUKOS chief executive and Russia's most famous political prisoner, opened the defense case with passionate and powerful testimony to the court.

Yukos International, once a subsidiary of former Russian oil giant Yukos, said it will sue the Russian government for breaking up the oil company. Yukos was dismantled in November 2007 with most of the assets sold to state-owned Rosneft, now Russia's largest oil producer, RIA Novosti reported Monday. Bruce Misamore, former Yukos executive, said the $100 billion suit was the highest claim ever filed at the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky has said the government orchestrated the takeover of the company in retaliation for his political independence and to seize valuable assets.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says there's no pardon in the works for imprisoned oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was once the country's richest man. At this point, there is nothing to discuss, Medvedev said Saturday on his official Web site. As Russia's most famous inmate, Khodorkovsky remains a subject of interest, with supporters saying the Kremlin destroyed him to gain control of the Yukos oil company, which Khodorkovsky built from privatization deals in the 1990s, CNN reported Sunday.

The founder of former Russian energy giant Yukos and a business partner were in court Tuesday for hearings in a multibillion-dollar embezzlement case. Russian oil companies Tomskneft and Samaraneftegaz have charged Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev with embezzling about $25 billion and laundering about $7.5 billion, RIA Novosti reported Tuesday. The two are already serving eight-year sentences on theft and tax evasion charges.

A European court has agreed to hear a lawsuit by shareholders of the Yukos oil company who are seeking billions of dollars from the Russian government. The claim is the largest ever to come before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, the EU Observer reported.