Khodorkovsky and Lebedev at the cassation appeal hearings in the Moscow City Court

The Moscow City Court upheld on Tuesday a sentence against Yukos ex-CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the former head of Menatep group Platon Lebedev and reduced their 14-year prison terms for oil embezzlement by one year.
Emotions of the prisoners waiting for the verdict are being captured in photos by RIA Novosti.

The former head of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was arrested on October 25, 2003. Journalists present at the hearings in the Moscow City Court pointed out that Kodorkovsky looked pretty good for a person who’s been imprisoned for over seven years.

Lawyers say that Mikhail Khodorkovsky can already appeal for an early release on parole.

“According to the verdict, which comes into force today, Khodorkovsky and
Lebedev should be imprisoned for 13 years, meaning their sentence will have been served in 2016,” Lebedev’s lawyer, Elena Liptser, said. Liptser said
that according to law, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev are eligible to
apply for an early release on parole after half of the sentence has
been served.
Photo: Platon Lebedev, the former head of Menatep, in the Moscow City
Court waiting for the court’s decision on the cassation appeal to be
announced.

Platon Lebedev has been imprisoned for almost eight years. He was
arrested on June 2, 2003.

“I am not begging for any mercy,” Khodorkovsky said during his
appeal in court. The former Yukos CEO believes the charges
against him are “absurd” and “deliberately false.” He demanded
the sentence be overturned and the case closed for lack of a crime committed.