MOSCOW, August 21 - RAPSI. The Business Against Corruption Center has initiated an independent expert analysis of the case against former YUKOS head Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the center reports.

The center, the government-backed body which safeguards the rights of businessmen, is co-chaired by business ombudsman Boris Titov.

The analysis may take two months, Titov's adviser Tatyana Marchenko told the PRIME news agency earlier. The center will issue an opinion on whether Khodorkovsky's rights were violated in the case and identify possible legal responses if violations are found to have occurred.

The YUKOS case has been one of the most high profile in Russia in recent years. In the early 2000s, when YUKOS was the country's largest oil company, its executives were charged with economic crimes. YUKOS later went bankrupt and its assets were transferred to Rosneft company. Some believe the case was politically motivated, though Moscow denies these allegations.

In late 2010, Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were sentenced to 14 years in prison. They were expected to be released in 2017, taking into account the time they had already served for their previous convictions from their first trial in 2005. However, later the sentence was contested and the court shortened their prison term by one year.

Lebedev is expected be released in February 2013 after his prison term was further reduced by three years and four months.