PHYSICIANS SAY PRISON IS NO DANGER TO LEBEDEV'S HEALTH

MOSCOW, March 4, 2004 (RIA Novosti) - The health of Platon Lebedev, a co-owner of Yukos (a Russian oil company), who is now in custody in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center in Moscow, does not raise any concern, the information and public relations department of the Prosecutor General's Office told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

"According to the conclusions of a medical commission, Lebedev's incarceration in the pre-trial detention center does not threaten his life or health," said an official spokesman for the Prosecutor General's Office.

For an objective, competent and impartial conclusion, Mr. Lebedev was examined by several doctors, including Professor Lazebnik, the chief physician of the Moscow Health Department; Dr. Demushkina, a deputy chief of the medical department of the Justice Ministry's Enforcement of Punishments Board for Moscow; Dr. Kuznetsova; and others.

One of the main Yukos shareholders, former head of the Menatep financial association, Mr. Lebedev has been in custody since last July. He is charged with the appropriation of others' property, deliberately inflicting property damage on the state, tax evasion and other crimes.