Khodorkovsky again placed in punitive ward

MOSCOW. March 17 (Interfax) - Former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky has once again been placed in a punitive ward at the penal colony where he is serving his term, Khodorkovsky's website reported, citing his lawyer, Natalya Terekhova.
"Khodorkovsky was again placed in a punitive ward at the Krasnokamensk penal colony at 9:00 a.m. today," reads a report posted on Khodorkovsky's website.
The official explanation for the punishment is that Khodorkovsky "dined not at a place specially designed for this."
At about 9:00 p.m. on March 15, Khodorkovsky returned to the barracks from a meeting with his lawyer, Karina Moskalenko. "Then he and another convict started drinking tea at the unit council room. An officer on duty caught them right at the moment they were committing this criminal deed," the report says.
"As a result, Khodorkovsky and the other convict were placed into the same punitive ward cell for seven days," the report says.
Lawyer Moskalenko confirmed told Interfax that Khodorkovsky was placed in a punitive ward "for absolutely farfetched reasons."
Moskalenko said Khodorkovsky had told her that "the colony administration has fabricated one more accusation."
Khodorkovsky's lawyers will appeal the decision in court once again, she said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Yury Shmidt said he believes "placing Khodorkovsky in a punitive ward was absolutely unlawful."
"I am continuing to insist that the administration of the penal colony YaG 14/10 has been instructed to punish Khodorkovsky on any pretext and without such, because punishments might prevent his transfer to relaxed conditions and might in the future be an obstacle for Khodorkovsky to request a parole," the website quoted Shmidt as saying.
"The colony administration has illegally deprived Khodorkovsky of meetings with his lawyers during working hours," Shmidt said.
"So as not to lose time, Mikhail Borisovich [Khodorkovsky] had no choice but skip a supper to meet with his lawyers. And it would be inhuman to deprive him of the right to drink a cup of tea before going to bed, even if the regulations did not allow this," Shmidt said.
"It is absolutely clear that such a 'violation' deserved no more than an oral reprimand," he said.

Interfax