The court has dismissed a related appeal by Lebedev's defense against a similar decision of August 19 by the Meshchansky district court, which is considering Lebedev's case. The information reached Novosti from the defendant's lawyer Elena Liptzer on a previous occasion.
Lebedev had only one comprehensive medical examination throughout his long pre-trial detention-clearly not enough to see his real state of health, pointed out the appeal. It proceeded from a conclusion by an independent British medical expert, who studied Lebedev's medical record to suspect hepatic cirrhosis or liver carcinoma at an early stage. The alarming news moved the defense to demand their client's thorough medical examination with the court hearings suspended till it was over.
The district court dismissed the appeal. "The Criminal Procedural Code does not entitle the court of law to appoint medical examinations. That is up to authorities of the pre-trial prison where the defendant is," explains Justice Irina Kolesnikova.
Lebedev's lawyers three times applied for his medical examination. The court buried all the three appeals.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former Yukos proprietor, and Platon Lebedev are suspected of tax evasion and fraud involving huge sums, and certain other crimes-on a total seven Criminal Code clauses.
As the indictment has it, the two billionaires made fraudulent misappropriation of a 20% block of shares of the Apatit, major fertilizer manufacturing company. It is a grave financial crime, and threatens each up to ten years' imprisonment.
