[JURIST] A defense lawyer for imprisoned former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky [advocacy website; JURIST news archive] said [press release] Friday that he and former business associate Platon Lebedev have been transferred from their Siberian penal colony in Chita Oblast [Wikipedia backgrounder] to a local remand prison [PV backgrounder]. The transfer took place on Wednesday. Lawyers for the two men are expecting prosecutors to lay new charges against them next week. Interfax has more.

Khodorkovsky was convicted in May 2005 of tax evasion [JURIST report], and the Russian government effectively nationalized Yukos to pay off $33 billion in back taxes. Khodorkovsky's lawyers have insisted that legal actions against their client have been politically motivated.