MOSCOW (AFP) – Jailed Russian oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky told a court Tuesday he did not want to die in prison, but nor did he believe he would be acquitted as his trial for fraud and embezzlement drew to a close.

“While there is always hope, no one believes we will be acquitted,” he said in the final submission at his trial in Moscow's Khamovnichesky district court.
Khodorkovsky called the trial a test of the rule of law in Russia, even though his supporters have denounced the charges brought by the prosecution as a politically motivated farce.
“Millions of people are watching this case hoping that the rule of law will triumph in the country. I don't want to die in prison, but my belief is worth my life,” he said.
The former Yukos boss was speaking after judge Viktor Danilkin announced that he would begin pronouncing his verdict on December 15. It is expected that it will take several days to pronounce the full verdict.
Khodorkovsky, who is already serving an eight-year sentence for fraud, has asked the Moscow court to acquit him on all the fresh charges, which he has described as absurd.
The 47-year-old was Russia's richest man before his initial arrest in 2003, with his oil empire estimated to have been worth around 15 billion dollars.