MOSCOW, May 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Moscow's central court on Monday started reading verdict to former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev, and decided to reconvene on Tuesday, with a general expectation of giving a final guilty verdict, Russia's Itar-Tass reported.

    It will take more than two days for the judge to read out the verdict to the defendants and the final verdict is expected to be announced on Wednesday, the defense lawyers were quoted by the Itar-Tass as saying.

    The Monday court has established that Khodorkovsy, founder of Russia's former biggest oil company Yukos oil firm, had committed four crimes out of his seven charges, including theft with conspiracy, damage to property rights via fraud, malicious failure to obey a court order and personal tax evasion of over 54.5 million rubles (about 2 million US dollars).

    Khodorkovsky, 41, was arrested 17 months ago and has been held in jail since. He and his partner Lebedev, 46, have been charged with 11 counts of tax evasion and massive fraud under seven articles in the Russian criminal code.

    Both defense and prosecution lawyers however have vowed to appeal an unfavorable verdict.

    He will face a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted, as most observers expect.

    Both men have consistently denied all the charges against them, saying their alleged crimes either did not occur or were well within the law of the time.

    The Yukos oil company, once Russia's largest oil giant, has been partially dismantled after the government reacquired control of its core crude production unit.

    Before the court opened the session, a group of Khodorkovsky's supporters stood outside the court protesting and demanding the defendants' release, the Interfax said. Enditem