MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - The European Court of Human Rights will examine an appeal by Platon Lebedev, a former key Yukos shareholder serving an eight-year prison term, the businessman's lawyer said Tuesday.
Lebedev was convicted in 2005 of tax evasion and fraud charges along with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the founder of the now bankrupt Yukos oil giant.
"The European court has given priority to the appeal filed in the interests of Lebedev, which deals with among other things an unjust court trial," Yelena Liptser said.
She said the European Court had turned to the Russian government with 15 questions, relating to the right to a fair trial among other questions, and the government is supposed to provide answers by September 10, 2007. The lawyer also said a complaint about the legality of Lebedev's arrest and custody conditions is also being addressed.
Recently the Russian authorities launched a new case against the business partners, accusing them of large-scale money laundering, but the Moscow City Court ruled that the investigation in Chita, East Siberia, where they are being held, was illegal.
The accused are to be transferred to Moscow, where the alleged crime took place, so that the probe can be resumed.
Khodorkovsky, who acquired oil assets through controversial privatization deals in the early-1990s, has insisted his prosecution was orchestrated by the authorities to silence his criticism of President Vladimir Putin and as part of a campaign to bring mineral assets under Kremlin control.
