Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s trial postponed by Moscow court

The imprisonment of former Russian oligarch and Vladimir Putin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky took a further twist today as a Moscow court abruptly postponed the verdict of a second trial which could keep him in jail for six more years.

Prosecutors want the former chief of the Yukos oil company to face more jail on top of the eight-year sentence he is serving for alleged fraud and tax evasion.

But this morning, media arriving at the courthouse arrived to find a brief note posted on the door saying the judge would begin reading the verdict on the current second trial on December 27.

This second trial is being closely watched because the 47 year-old's first sentence ends in October next year.