¡¡MOSCOW, May 31 (Xinhuanet) -- Former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced to nine years in prison Tuesday after being found guilty of charges including fraud and tax evasion.

    Following are major developments leading up to a guilty verdictin Khodorkovsky's case:     

    July 2003 -- The judicial campaign against Khodorkovsky's company Yukos began when his business partner Platon Lebedev was arrested on charges of theft of state property in a 1994 privatization deal.     

    Oct. 25, 2003 -- Khodorkovsky was detained for failing to show up for questioning in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, where his private jet landed to refuel en route from Nizhny Novgorod to Irkutsk.

    The same day, a Moscow court ordered the arrest of Khodorkovskyon charges including large-scale fraud and tax evasion.     

    Nov. 3, 2003 -- Khodorkovsky resigned as chief executive officer of Yukos. Simon Kukes, a Russian-born American, was appointed to replace Khodorkovsky.     

    June 16, 2004 -- Khodorkovsky went on trial along with Lebedev at Moscow's Meschchansky Court eight months after his arrest.     

    March 29, 2005 -- The state prosecution demanded 10 years in jail for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev.     

    April 11, 2005 -- The Meshchansky Court completed the trial of Khodorkovsky and announced it would deliver its verdict on April 27.     

    April 27, 2005 -- The court postponed the verdict on Khodorkovsky till May 16, giving no reason for the delay.     

    May 16, 2005 -- The court started reading a voluminous verdict on Khodorkovsky, which contained about 1,200 pages.     

    May 31, 2005 -- Khodorkovsky was found guilty of charges including fraud and tax evasion and sentenced to nine years in prison, capping 12 days of laborious verdict reading. Enditem