[JURIST] The director of Russia's federal penal service has denied reports made on Tuesday that Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST news archive; defense website], the former CEO of oil company Yukos [corporate website], has gone on a hunger strike [JURIST report] to protest the move of his business partner Platon Lebedev [Wikipedia profile] to an isolation cell. Khodorkovsky, who is serving a nine year sentence for fraud and tax evasion, made a statement through his lawyer [text] Tuesday that he went on a hunger strike to show support for Lebedev, who Khodorkovsky says was put into an isolation cell as revenge for Khodorkovsky's articles and interviews. Under prison regulations, inmates must inform officials of a hunger strike so that they can be placed under medical supervision. RIA Novosti has more.