Lawyers know nothing about third criminal case against Khodorkovsky, Lebedev
MOSCOW. May 30 (Interfax) - No investigative procedures are being conducted in relation to former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and former Menatep head Platon Lebedev that would give grounds to say that a third criminal case has been opened against them, defense attorneys said.
"Even if something is being investigated, we do not know about this, which is a gross violation of the law and our clients' rights," Lebedev's lawyer Vladimir Krasnov told Interfax.
"Neither we nor our clients have been asked any questions, and no investigative procedures have been conducted," he said.
The investigation's increasingly active work with the experts who gave their conclusion on the second criminal case against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev "strangely coincided with the opening of supervisory proceedings at the Supreme Court," he said.
"I might be too emotional in tying this, but any time there is a hint at a manifestation of justice and a hope that this case will be looked into, for instance, by the Supreme Court, the investigation's activity increases," Krasnov said.
"Theoretically, I cannot rule out any possibility, but I have no reasons to say the opposite," he added.
Vedomosti reported on Thursday that a new criminal case personally against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev could be separated from the major Yukos case.
Under the Moscow City Court presidium's ruling, Khodorkovsky's and Lebedev's prison terms handed down on them in the first two criminal cases will expire in 2014. It was reported on Wednesday that the Supreme Court considered the reductions insufficient of their prison terms in line with the amended Criminal Code. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an appeal by Khodorkovsky's and Lebedev's lawyers against their convictions on August 6.
