A Moscow court has turned down a request for bail by detained oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Mr Khodorkovsky, who was until last week chief of oil giant Yukos, is facing tax evasion and fraud charges.
Many view the case against Mr Khodorkovsky - Russia's richest man and a financier of opposition groups - as politically motivated.
But on Monday President Vladimir Putin denied this was the case, and stressed that no-one was above the law.
"Everyone - businessmen, state officials and the police - must be responsible before the law," he said in remarks marking Police Day.
"Equality before the law is the main condition that enables a society to call itself democratic and makes it efficient," the president added.
Closed session
Mr Khodorkovsky took part in the bail hearings via a video link from a Moscow prison.
The judge ordered the hearing to be closed, with journalists and other observers barred from the room.
Earlier on Tuesday, lawyers for Mr Khodorkovsky said they wanted a panel of foreign observers to watch the case.
"We want to see a panel of... international observers who will observe the court proceedings," said Robert Amsterdam, a Canada-based lawyer acting on behalf of Mr Khodorkovsky.
He added that the case could end up at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
"Everyone should remember that Russia is a signatory to the European human rights convention," Mr Amsterdam said.
"Strasbourg ultimately is engaged in Russia and is a forum that will be engaged in this case."
Broken deal
Mr Khodorkovsky made his fortune through controversial privatisations in the 1990s, and became head of Yukos.
State prosecutors launched a campaign against Yukos four months ago, after a top shareholder was charged with theft of state property. However critics said the investigation was an attempt by the Kremlin to assert its power over business tycoons.
The former Yukos chief supports opposition groups - although he insists he has used his own money, rather than company funds, to do so.
Analysts say this broke a tacit agreement reached by Mr Putin and Russia's "oligarchs" to stay out of politics in return for avoiding investigation of their financial affairs.
The US administration has urged the Russian authorities "to dispel any concern that this case is politically motivated".
Standing down
A lawyer for Mr Khodorkovsky told the BBC that Russian prosecutors were flouting the rule of law, and said a complaint would be made to the UN working group on arbitrary detention.
Mr Khodorkovsky has resigned as chief executive of Yukos, saying he was now planning to dedicate himself to his Open Russia Foundation.
A BBC Moscow correspondent says this suggests that Mr Khodorkovsky is preparing to bring forward his declared intention to enter the political arena.
Mr Khodorkovsky's arrest came ahead of parliamentary elections in December, and a presidential election in March.
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/business/3259331.stm
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