Khodorkovsky Complains His Lawyer Can’t Hear Him

Jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky complained in a Moscow court Tuesday that guards at his detention center forbid him to communicate with his lawyer at any distance closer than one meter, with an escort between them. His lawyer, Genrikh Padva, is hard of hearing, and so the restriction hinders their communication.

The court, where the former Yukos head is on trial for tax evasion, has denied his request for a change of regime, saying that he must appeal to the detention center — the issue is out of the Moscow court’s jurisdiction, the Russian Information Agency Novosti reported.

Appealing to allow him to talk to his lawyer at a distance of half a meter, as he was allowed before, Khodorkovsky asked to view instructions and regulations for detention center guards. He was denied in this request as well, Novosti reported.

Khodorkovsky said the regulations, if they call for such restrictive measures, are in violation of his rights, and wants to see if they really exist and appeal them if they do.

“We’re allowed to talk only at a distance of one meter, with an escort between us,” the Interfax news agency quoted Khodorkovsky as saying in court Tuesday, “but earlier we were allowed to talk at a distance of half a meter.”

The State’s prosecutor Dmitri Shokhin said, however, that the issue has nothing to do with Khodorkovsky’s case and must be appealed at the detention center.

HERE