Oil Tycoon's Lawyers Detained in Moscow

MOSCOW -- Lawyers for imprisoned Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner were briefly detained at a Moscow airport Sunday, a day before new charges were expected to be filed against their clients, one of the attorneys said.

Five lawyers for Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev were detained by police at Domodedovo airport in the evening as they were waiting for a flight to the Siberian city of Chita where their clients are in custody, Yuri Shmidt told The Associated Press.

Speaking on his mobile phone as he headed for the flight, Shmidt said he and the others were held for about an hour without explanation and then were released.

Police could not immediately be reached for comment.

Khodorkovsky, founder of the now bankrupt oil giant OAO Yukos, was convicted in 2004 on fraud and tax evasion charges in a politically charged trial.

He has been serving an eight-year sentence in a Siberian prison camp near the Chinese border. He and Lebedev were moved in December to a detention center in Chita, a regional seat, for questioning.

Before his arrest and a parallel tax probe that put most of Yukos in state hands, Khodorkovsky was estimated by Forbes magazine to be the richest man in Russia with a fortune worth $15 billion.

The trial and tax probe were widely seen as Kremlin-driven punishment against Khodorkovsky for challenging President Vladimir Putin and part of an effort to boost state control over the strategically important oil sector.

Russia's top prosecutor last month said new money laundering charges would be filed against Khodorkovsky and other former Yukos executives, raising the prospect of years more in prison. Shmidt said Saturday that prosecutors would file the new charges Monday, and had instructed Khodorkovsky's legal team to travel to Chita for the indictment.

Khodorkovsky could face up to 15 years for money laundering. He has been in detention since October 2003 and could be eligible for parole later this year. But Kremlin critics suggested the new charges were aimed at ensuring he remains in prison and presents no political threat.

Prosecutors have not commented on the substance of the new charges. According to Shmidt, they allege Khodorkovsky was involved in laundering oil revenues defrauded from Yukos through his Open Russia foundation.