Jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been sent into solitary confinement for 12 days after a written interview with Esquire magazine, his lawyers said yesterday. Khodorkovsky, once Russia`s richest man and founder of the now-dismantled Yukos oil empire, was convicted in 2005 of tax evasion and fraud in what some viewed as an attempt to silence a Kremlin opponent and cement control over the energy sector. A court rejected a parole request in August, citing reasons such as a refusal to take part in a sewing course. The Russian prison service is looking into the report.

AP via Guardian