27 October 2003 11:00
Prosecutors summon Khodorkovsky`s lawyer for questioning
Anton Drel, the lawyer of Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky who was arrested on Saturday was called to the investigative department of the Prosecutor-General's Office of Russia for interrogation on Monday afternoon. The investigators intend to question the lawyer on the charges of misappropriation and tax evasion by a number of Yukos-affiliated companies.
As Anton Drel explained to journalists, cases regarding chairman of the Board of Directors of ZAO MFO Menatep Platon Lebedev and head of NK Yukos Mikhail Khodorkovsky were later separated from this criminal case. According to Drel, he intends to submit the question of his appearance in the Prosecutor-General's Office for discussion at the Lawyers' Chamber of Moscow.
The Prosecutor-General's Office earlier sent to Drel a subpoena on summoning him for an examination as a witness. But the Lawyers' Chamber of Moscow forbade him to appear in front of investigators, referring to the Code of Criminal Procedure and the law On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation prohibiting interrogation of a lawyer on the cases in which he participates as a defender.
"The Lawyers' Chamber has already voiced its categorical 'no' to the lawyer's appearance in the prosecutor's office", the Chamber's chairman Genry Reznik has said. "If Drel appears in the prosecutor's office for interrogation as a witness, the question of imposing an administrative penalty on him to the extent of stripping him of the lawyer's status may be raised", the lawyer added. According to Reznik, he does not intend to convene another extraordinary meeting of the Council of the Lawyers' Chamber.
In his turn, Drel said that in case he does not appear in the prosecutor's office the investigators can register his compulsory process. "I may be detained, a case against me may be filed, and a court may sanction my arrest. I am an individual like all, and do not differ from Khodorkovsky in anything", the defender noted.
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