A Moscow court on Friday ordered the former chief executive of oil major YUKOS, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, to remain in jail pending trial until May 25, Khodorkovsky's lawyer said.
"We knew the decision before we came. This is an absolute farce," Robert Amsterdam, one of Khodorkovsky's lawyers, said after the ruling was handed down. "The court isn't even trying to hide that this is a political case."
Friday's court sitting, lasting more than seven hours, was the latest of several attempts by defence lawyers to secure the release of the politically ambitious magnate on bail as prosecutors prepare their case against him.
Khodorkovsky, charged with tax evasion and mass fraud, was arrested at gunpoint aboard an aircraft last October.