MOSCOW, March 17 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow court rejected on Tuesday a request from defense lawyers to drop new embezzlement charges against Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner.

Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, serving prison terms on tax evasion and theft convictions described by many critics as politically motivated, now face a new trial, on charges of embezzlement and money laundering totaling about $50 billion.

The court also rejected the defense's request to return the case for further investigation, and scheduled hearings on the new charges on March 31.

Preliminary hearings in the new case against Khodorkovsky, 45, and Lebedev, 42, who are serving eight-year sentences, started in Moscow on March 3. The defense lawyers have described the charges as "ridiculous" and said prosecutors had no evidence to support their case.

The request to suspend confinement for the former businessmen during the trial was also turned down, as was a request to remove part of embezzlement charges due to the expiry of the period of limitation.

"The court has ruled to turn down all the appeals lodged by the defense during the preliminary hearings," the Moscow City Court's press secretary Anna Usachyova said.

A lawyer acting for Khodorkovsky, Vadim Klyuvgant, said the defense had not decided if it would appeal the court rulings. Klyuvgant said most appeals had been rejected as premature.