US, Germany concern over oil tycoon verdict
Published:Tuesday | December 28, 2010 | 9:48 AM
The US and Germany have voiced serious concerns about a second guilty verdict against the jailed Russian former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man and considered a political threat to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, was convicted at a new Moscow trial of embezzlement.
The White House said it was deeply concerned by the verdict, calling it a selective application of justice.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the trial was a step back.
The judge said Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were guilty of stealing from their firm Yukos and laundering the proceeds.
Khodorkovsky is currently serving an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion from his 2005 trial.