27 December 2010 Last updated at 01:11 GMT

Khodorkovsky has said he is prepared to spend the rest of his life in jail

A court in Moscow is due to begin reading the verdict in the second trial of former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Khodorkovsky, who is already serving an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion, is facing fresh charges of money laundering and embezzlement.

If found guilty the former head of the now defunct Yukos oil company could be behind bars for several more years.

His supporters maintain the case is politically motivated.

Khodorkovsky, 47, is due to be released next year, but the second trial could see him jailed until 2017.

Germany's warning

In the latest trial, Khodorkovsky is accused of stealing hundreds of millions of tonnes of oil from his Yukos oil company and laundering the proceeds between 1998-2003.

He has denounced the charges as rubbish.

Khodorkovsky has said that a state that destroys its best companies and trusts only the bureaucracy and the special services is a sick state.

Many critics believe the government wants the former tycoon kept behind bars for as long as possible because he challenged former President Vladimir Putin by financing the opposition.

In a televised question-and-answer session last week, Mr Putin - who is Russia's current prime minister - referred to Khodorkovsky when he said he believed "a thief belongs in prison".

Khodorkovsky's lawyers said Mr Putin's comments "removed all doubt about who puts pressure on the court", adding that his comments would assist in an appeal against the verdict, should Khodorkovsky be found guilty.

On Saturday, Germany said it was following the trial very closely.

"This trial is considered a test of the rule of law in Russia," German Ambassador to Russia Ulrich Brandenburg told Russia's Interfax news agency.