Investigators again want to cut Khodorkovsky and Lebedev’s time to read the case files

The investigator in the case against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev has petitioned the court to limit their deadline for familiarisation with the case documentation. In a phone call from the court Khodorkovsky lawyer Natalya Terekhova was informed that a new deadline of 15 December 2008 has been requested. The Ingodinsky district court will examine this petition on 17 November 2008.

The investigators have already approached the court with a similar petition exactly a year ago. Then it was suggested that the period for reading the case files end on 15 December 2007. The court took the side of the investigators but the decision was overturned on appeal.

In order to impose such restrictions the investigators must prove that the accused and his lawyers are “deliberately prolonging the process of familiarisation”. It is noteworthy that the deadline for familiarisation was previously extended, at the request of the investigators themselves, to 2 February 2009.

A similar petition has been submitted by the investigators with regard to Platon Lebedev. The Ingodinsky district court will examine it on 18 November 2008.