The New-York Times: Jailed Russian Tycoon Is Secretly Taken From Moscow Cell

By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: October 10, 2005

MOSCOW, Oct. 10 - Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, the Yukos-oil-company-chairman-turned-convict, was recently moved from his holding cell near Moscow and is believed to be en route to a Russian prison camp to serve the rest of his sentence, his lawyers and their spokeswoman said today.

Mr. Khodorkovsky's business partner, Platon Lebedev, who was convicted with him, was also transferred.

The announcement provided another chapter in the long-running legal saga of Russia's most famous inmates. In accordance with Russian prison practice, the government disclosed neither the whereabouts nor the destination of the two men, leaving their legal team to wonder about their fates.

The lawyers learned of the transfer only when they went to visit their clients in the Matrosskaya Tishina prison, where the pair had been held since 2003 as the cases against them wound their way through investigation to trial. The lawyers last saw their clients on Friday.

A spokeswoman for the men's lawyers, Mariya Ordzhonikidze, said the two prisoners were thought to be on separate trains, bound for separate labor camps. She said the lawyers might not hear of their whereabouts for at least 10 days, and were concerned about their clients' health.

"Russian prison is very brutal," Ms. Ordzhonikidze said. "It is barbaric."

Both men face eight-year terms, after their convictions on charges that included fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion; they have already served about two years.

The secretive transfer comes after a series of fresh developments in what Mr. Khodorkovsky has characterized as the political battle between the Kremlin, himself and the now-crippled oil company he founded.

Last week, Russian investigators searched the offices of three of his lawyers and of Open Russia, a foundation Mr. Khodorkovsky created, fueling speculation that his lawyers face repercussions for representing him and that he, too, may face further charges.

Mr. Khodorkovsky also tweaked the Kremlin last week, with sarcastic birthday greetings to President Vladimir V. Putin, who turned 53. The greetings were published in Kommersant, a newspaper owned by Boris Berezovksy, who has also been engaged in public battle with Mr. Putin and lives in exile in Britain.

The New York Times, 10.11.2005