NOVOSIBIRSK, February 9 (RIA Novosti, Maxim Koshmarchuk) - A Siberian court has ruled in favor of jailed Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky in his bid to have a prison decision against him overturned, a court spokesman said Thursday.
The court in Krasnokamensk in the Chita Region (about 1,860 miles east of Moscow), where Khodorkovsky has been serving an eight-year term for tax evasion and fraud since October 15, 2005, invalidated the penal colony's decision to punish him for leaving his work place.
Khodorkovsky was later sent to solitary confinement for five days after committing a second offense: keeping prohibited materials and documents. He also intends to appeal that decision in the court.
Khodorkovsky's lawyers said the prison officials' punishment could have affected potential moves to secure their client better conditions in the colony had it been upheld.
