Court denies parole to former MENATEP director Platon Lebedev

The presidium of the Arkhangelsk region court on Wednesday denied parole to former MENATEP director Platon Lebedev. The appeals panel refused to grant the petition by the businessman's lawyers who had sought to overturn the decision by the Velsk district court. On January 25, the Supreme Court ordered supervisory review of the case by the presidium of the Arkhangelsk region court. After examining the appeal, the Supreme Court concluded that the court of original jurisdiction, when denying parole to Lebedev, motivated its conclusions on the grounds that do not follow from the law, namely that Lebedev "has not repented." Previously, the Arkhangelsk region court addressed the issue of Lebedev's parole three times. On September 16, 2011, a panel of judges upheld the decision by the Velsk court. The lawyers' appeal was turned down. A similar decision was made by the acting chairperson of the Arkhangelsk region court on September 2012. On December 30, 2010, Moscow's Khamovniki court found former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Lebedev guilty of embezzlement and money laundering, and sentenced them to 14 years in a general regime penitentiary. In May 2011, a court reduced their jail terms by one year. On December 20, 2012, the presidium of the Moscow City Court cut Lebedev and Khodorkovsky's sentences to 11 years in jail, due to amendments to a number of penal code article. Lebedev is to be set free on July 2, 2014, and Khodorkovsky in October 2014. At present, Lebedev is serving his sentence in the Velsk penitentiary, Arkhangelsk region.