MOSCOW, September 19 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow court upheld Wednesday a new probe against imprisoned Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the courtroom.
The Moscow City Court thereby rejected lawyer Karina Moskalenko's appeal against a lower, Basmanny court ruling on the defense team's earlier complaint that the new investigation was illegitimate and violated the convict's rights.
"The June 27, 2007 ruling by Moscow's Basmanny District Court, which rejected a complaint lodged by Moskalenko, shall be left intact, and her appeal [against the Basmanny ruling] shall not be satisfied," the presiding judge said.
The new charges against Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev, who were convicted of fraud and tax evasion in 2005 and are serving eight-year prison terms, include stealing government shares, expropriating oil, and laundering $25 billion earned from oil sales in 1998-2004. Both businessmen have denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated.
Another member of the businessman's defense team, Olga Mikhailova, also argued during the session that the complaint in the Basmanny court had been examined in Khodorkovsky's absence, despite his lawyers' request to bring him to Moscow for hearings.
Khodorkovsky's defense team has repeatedly insisted their client be transferred from Chita in east Siberia to Moscow for the probe to continue, but complained that prosecutors had done everything to prevent this.
Once the largest oil producer in Russia, the Yukos empire collapsed after claims of tax evasion, which led to the company being broken up and sold off to meet debts. The bulk of its assets were subsequently bought by government-controlled oil company Rosneft.
