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Journalism of Courage
Jailed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s business partner was moved out of a punishment cell on Thursday, paving the way for Khodorkovsky to end a hunger strike he started in protest, media reported.
Khodorkovsky had been refusing food and water for several days after Platon Lebedev, co-defendant in his trial, was put in a punishment cell. He was waiting until Lebedev was moved before he resumed eating and drinking.
It was not clear whether Khodorkovsky, 42-year-old founder of the Yukos oil company, had heard that Lebedev had been transferred to a normal cell. “If he hears about it, he will stop his hunger strike,” Interfax news agency quoted Khodorkovsky’s lawyer Anton Drel as saying.
He was sentenced in May to nine years in jail for fraud and tax evasion. Lebedev was given the same jail term. Supporters say he was the victim of a Kremlin campaign to punish him for his political ambitions. — Reuters
