Russian court rejects Khodorkovsky parole

By Chris Baldwin

CHITA, Russia (Reuters) - A Russian court on Friday rejected a parole appeal by former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a decision his lawyers said showed President Dmitry Medvedev's promises to reform the legal system were far from reality.

Khodorkovsky, who is serving an eight-year jail term for tax evasion and fraud, says he is the victim of corrupt officials under former President Vladimir Putin who wanted to carve up his business empire and who feared his political ambitions.

The judge in the Ingodinsky regional court in the eastern Siberian city of Chita said Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, would not receive parole because he had not shown sufficient willingness to reform in prison.

"Since the prisoner Khodorkovsky had no connection with the professional educational programme offered him in detention, he does not deserve conditional early release," said Judge Igor Faliliyev.

The judge said Khodorkovsky, a 45-year-old chemistry graduate, had failed to take prison lessons on how to use an industrial sewing machine before taking part in correction work.

When the decision was read out Khodorkovsky, wearing jeans and a brown coat, glanced at his lawyers from the cage where he was kept during the hearing but showed no emotion.

Armed guards then placed handcuffs on him and led the former boss of YUKOS, once Russia's biggest oil company, out of the courtroom.

Khodorkovsky's chief defence lawyer, Yuri Schmidt, told Reuters by telephone that an appeal would be filed but that they had expected the court to deny parole.