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Irish court unlocks 100 mln euros on Khodorkovsky’s accounts

These funds in the amount of 100 million euros were locked up by the Irish police’s fraud investigation bureau in 2011

© Maxim Nikitin/TASS

MOSCOW, December 7. /TASS/. The Dublin Court has ruled to unlock the assets worth 100 million euros held by former oil giant Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky in the Irish Republic, the court’s press office told TASS on Wednesday.

International Legal Protection Center General Director Andrei Kondakov who represents Russia’s interests in the Yukos case said that "these funds in the amount of 100 million euros were locked up by the Irish police’s fraud investigation bureau in 2011 as part of a probe into the laundering of ill-gotten funds."

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The Russian side was extremely surprised by today’s decision of the Irish court as it was not properly notified about Khodorkovsky’s petition submitted to the court to unlock his assets, Kondakov said.

"Therefore, it had no possibility to participate in the proceedings and submit the required proofs of the illegal origin of these funds," Kondakov said.

Russia’s request sent to the Irish Justice Ministry in 2012 for the provision of legal assistance on this issue was left unanswered.

"The Irish Court also did not propose to Russia to provide any information on the origin of these funds," Kondakov said.

Yukos case

Yukos, once Russia’s largest oil firm, was accused of tax crimes and declared a bankrupt by a Russian court.

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Russia’s Constitutional Court to consider implementing ECHR decision on Yukos case

Yukos former head Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were found guilty of embezzlement and tax evasion in May 2005 and sentenced to nine years in prison.

While serving their prison term, both Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were found guilty of embezzlement and money laundering in a second criminal case in December 2010 and sentenced to 14 years in prison, with account taken of the jail term they had served.

Khodorkovsky was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin and left the prison in December 2013. Lebedev was released from the jail in early 2014.

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Mikhail Khodorkovsky

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