MOSCOW, September 21 (RIA Novosti) - Genrikh Padva, a defense lawyer for former Yukos chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has been refused a meeting with his client.
Padva said he arrived at the pre-trial center where his client was being detained with an agreement on representing Khodorkovsky in his appeal, but was denied access to his client.
"I demanded to see the management, but neither the head of the detention center nor his deputies appeared," Padva said.
The lawyer said he had informed the Moscow City Court of the incident.
Detention center staff had previously refused to allow other Khodorkovsky lawyers to meet with their client. The reason given at that time was Khodorkovsky's cell had been placed under quarantine. However, the Federal Penitentiary Service said the quarantine was not valid and was later revoked.
Khodorkovsky is currently being held in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center waiting for a court decision on his appeal against the nine-year sentence handed down for various charges including tax evasion and fraud.
