[JURIST] The Russian Supreme Court [official website; in Russian] has overruled a lower court decision [JURIST report] that had held that a new investigation into the activities of Yukos [JURIST news archive] founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky [defense website; JURIST news archive] and his partner Platon Lebedev [defense website] was illegal. The Supreme Court decision permits Russian prosecutors to press ahead with charges of embezzlement, expropriation and money laundering. Khodorkovsky's lawyers say they will appeal the ruling to the European Court of Human Rights [official website].

Khodorkovsky was convicted of fraud and tax evasion in 2005 and is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence at a penal colony in Chita, eastern Siberia. RIA Novosti has more.