"We requested that prison officials give reasons for his solitary confinement and put him into a common cell," attorney Yevgeny Baru said Monday. He explained that solitary confinement could be dangerous for Lebedev's already poor health.
Yury Kalinin, director of the Russian federal penitentiary service, said Monday that Lebedev had been put into solitary confinement for his unacceptable behavior toward prison staff.
"He was repeatedly reprimanded," Kalinin said. "This is the logical result of his conduct. Sanctions will be applied against him if he breaks regulations again."
Another of Lebedev's lawyers, Konstantin Rivkin, said Friday that his client had been punished for refusing to take a walk.
Moscow's Meshchansky court sentenced Lebedev and former Yukos CEO Khodorkovsky to nine years in prison in May.
Lebedev was sent to solitary confinement for seven days, August 19-25.
