Kasparov confronts prosecutor in Khodorkovsky case

MOSCOW (AP) -- Kremlin opponent Garry Kasparov attended the trial of onetime billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Wednesday, getting in a brief, heated exchange with one of the Russian prosecutors during a recess.

The impromptu debate took place a few feet from the glass defendant's cage where Khodorkovsky and his co-defendant, Platon Lebedev, stood watching.

Kasparov, the former chess champion and a leader of the political coalition opposing the Kremlin, said before the trial began it was his "civic duty" to show his support for Khodorkovsky. The former tycoon has been accused of embezzling $25 billion from subsidiaries of the now-bankrupt Yukos Oil Co., which Khodorkovsky once owned.

Both Khodorkovsky and Lebedev have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, is already serving an eight-year prison sentence on fraud and tax evasion charges. If convicted in this second trial, he could remain in prison for another 22 years.

Yukos, once Russia's largest oil producer, was declared bankrupt in 2006 and later sold to pay billions of dollars in alleged back taxes. Many Yukos assets were bought by the state-controlled Rosneft oil company, which became the country's biggest oil producer.

Kasparov and others say the government is pressing the case against the former tycoon for political reasons. Shortly before his arrest in October 2003, Khodorkovsky challenged the growing power of then-President Vladimir Putin.

After the judge called for a recess, Kasparov sparred verbally with one of the team of prosecutors, Gyulchekhra Ibragimova, as she walked past him out of the noisy courtroom.

During the exchange, Ibragimova said she respected Kasparov but told him he should be playing chess rather than wasting his time in court.

A smiling Kasparov accused the prosecution of seeking "to replace the force of law with the law of force." Guards with automatic rifles and pistols stood by watching impassively.

After witnessing the encounter from their glassed-in booth, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev both grinned. Lebedev, another former Yukos executive, winked at one supporter.

Many of the roughly 30 spectators in the courtroom were Khodorkovsky supporters, and several shouted at prosecutors as they left the courtroom.

The latest Khodorkovsky case is seen as a test for President Dmitry Medvedev, who has called for judicial and political reforms and for broader participation in elections.

These measures would reverse the course set by Putin, Medvedev's mentor and predecessor, who rolled back democratic reforms during his eight years as president.

Outside the courtroom, Kasparov mocked the heavy security, calling the trial a "performance."

"It would be funny if it weren't a tragedy," he said.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)