New Charges for Jailed Russian Tycoon and Kremlin Foe

MOSCOW, June 30 -- Russian prosecutors have leveled fresh charges against the imprisoned tycoon and Kremlin foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky, his lawyers said Monday.

Khodorkovsky, who is serving an eight-year sentence in a Siberian prison camp for fraud and tax evasion, has been the subject of an additional investigation for at least a year on allegations of money laundering while he was head of Yukos Oil Co. The company was dismantled in a series of auctions organized by the state, with many prime assets absorbed by the state-controlled oil company Rosneft.

The new case, which could significantly extend Khodorkovsky's time in prison, comes as Russia's new president, Dmitry Medvedev, has spoken repeatedly about the need to establish the rule of law in Russia.

For his supporters here, and many people in the West, Khodorkovsky's case symbolized the Kremlin's absolute control of the courts and its ability to use the judicial system to punish enemies of Vladimir Putin, who was president during the prosecution and became prime minister earlier this year.

One of Khodorkovsky's attorneys, Yuri Schmidt, said in a recent interview that the treatment of his client will be an early test of Medvedev's commitment to an independent court system.

Putin, in a recent interview, said Khodorkovsky should receive no special treatment.

In a statement posted on their Web site Monday, Khodorkovsky's lawyers suggested that the latest charges may stem from unanswered questions about the new president's attitude.

"The defense can find no explanation other than the lack of certainty among the prosecutors and -- taking into account changes that have happened at the top of the government -- their desire to play for time, in the hope of receiving new instructions and confirmation of support from the top," the lawyers' statement said.

The Russian news agency RIA Novosti said the new charges include stealing government shares, illegal oil trading and laundering $25 billion earned from oil sales from 1998 to 2004.

Khodorkovsky's attorneys said the charges seemed to be based on old material. "The defense has not been able to understand what is actually 'new' after reading a 145-page . . . file," they said. "It was the same set of absurd and baseless accusations of misappropriation . . . of all oil extracted over the six years of Yukos' life."

Russian prosecutors insist that Khodorkovsky was a criminal businessman who flouted Russian law and received the appropriate punishment. Officials had no immediate comment on the new charges.

Several Western courts have described the prosecution as politically motivated and have refused to cooperate with Russian prosecutors seeking legal assistance in related cases.

Khodorkovsky's lawyers spoke recently of applying for early release for their client because he has served more than half of his sentence.

They expressed the hope that the courts would reject the new charges as baseless. "Our client was informed of the fresh charges on his birthday, which indisputably points to the mean and rancorous character of those who stand behind this criminal initiative," their statement said.

"We are convinced that whichever legal gimmicks may be in the works, the referral of the case to a court with the slightest sign of independence will cause these far-fetched charges to fall apart."