Khodorkovsky transferred to remand prison ahead of new charges News
Khodorkovsky transferred to remand prison ahead of new charges

[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.

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South Africa becomes first country on continent to legalize same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriages became legal in South Africa on November 30, 2006 as the country's Civil Union Act, 2006 went into effect, making South Africa the only country on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage. Read the Civil Union Act, 2006.