Khodorkovsky judge acted 'under orders' - court aide

An aide to the Russian judge who convicted Mikhail Khodorkovsky at his second trial last year has said he did not write his own verdict.

Judge Viktor Danilkin resented having to take orders from above during the trial of the former tycoon, Natalya Vasilyeva told Russian media.

The judge denied her allegations, describing them as slander.

The trial for fraud of Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev was widely condemned abroad as unfair.

Already in detention since 2003, he was sentenced to a further six years in prison and is not now due for release until 2017.

Daniel Sandford reports from Moscow.