MOSCOW, December 25 – RAPSI. The Supreme Court has requested the Velsk District Court to provide it with the data on Platon Lebedev’s parole denial.

In late July 2011, Velsk Court denied Lebedev parole, stating in the ruling that “the two Moscow courts’ punishments have not reached their goal.”

In 2005, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were sentenced to eight years in prison for fraud and tax evasion. In late 2010, a Moscow district court sentenced them to 14 years in prison for oil theft and money laundering. They were expected to be released in 2017, considering the time they had already served for their previous convictions from their first trial. In May 2011, the Moscow City Court then reduced their sentences by one year.

On December 20, the Moscow City Court presidium further reduced their sentences to 11 years from 13.