Azernews.Az

MOSCOW - A Moscow court extended on Monday the custody of former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev for another three months, RIA Novosti reported.

Both businessmen are already serving eight-year sentences for fraud and tax evasion. They are now accused of stealing $9.6 billion from the $15.8 billion profit generated by Yukos between 1999 and 2003, as well as 350 million tons of oil.

The judge agreed with the prosecutors' motion to extend the custody until November 17 because they could not complete the investigation in time, and said the circumstances of the case remained unchanged since the previous ruling to press new charges against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev.

The defense for the former Yukos executives is planning to appeal the court's decision.

"We intend to do this, but the final decision will be made later. We need to study the full version of the document [the ruling] and discuss future tactics with our clients," Lebedev's lawyer Konstantin Rivkin said.

Former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said in May that the new charges against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were ludicrous and politically motivated.

Russian officials have consistently denied any political motivation behind their convictions.

The hearings on the new case against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev will continue at the Khamovniki district court in Moscow.