He said that the medical workers at the prison where Mr. Lebedev is being held responded to all of his complaint and that Mr. Lebedev's conditions are similar to those of other prisoners.
On February 17th, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office presented Mr. Lebedev, chairman of Menatep, a co-owner of Yukos, with another charge - large-scale embezzlement.
The charge concerns the "embezzlement of profits from the $30 million sale of Apatit," noted a spokesman for the Prosecutor General's office.
He said, "because the accused are deliberately delaying studying the materials of the criminal case, the investigation is getting the opportunity to more thoroughly work on all the materials obtained, and this is why there are new charges."
Mr. Lebedev was arrested on July 2, 2003. Initially, he was accused of embezzling 20% of Apatit shares (more than $280 million) by stealing, not fulfilling a court ruling and causing property damage by cheating. Late in July 2003, he was also accused of tax evasion.
Since August 2003, Mr. Lebedev, who is now being held in the Matrosskaya Tishina prison, has been studying the materials of his case. The term of his arrest has been extended until March 30.
