Arrest of Khodorkovsky co-accused ruled illegal

Russia's top court yesterday ruled the 2003 arrest of the co-accused in the case of its former richest man Mikhail Khodorkovsky was illegal, in a rare boost for the jailed tycoon.

The supreme court ruled that the order from a Moscow court on July 3, 2003 to arrest businessman Platon Lebedev should be cancelled, Russian news agencies quoted the ruling as saying.

The highest instance of the supreme court had reviewed the arrest decision after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Mr Lebedev's rights had been violated during his pre-trial detention.

According to Mr Khodorkovsky's lawyers, a similar complaint has been placed before the European court on behalf of Khodorkovsky himself but has yet to be examined.

Mr Khodorkovsky and his business partner Mr Lebedev were jailed for eight years in 2005 and are now on trial again on fresh charges of embezzling millions of tons of oil and money laundering that could see them jailed for another two decades.