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Lawyers to appeal against Supreme Court's upholding 2nd Yukos case verdict

Earlier in the day, an appeals board of the Supreme Court reduced the jail terms for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev from 11 years to 10 years and 10 months each

Photo ITAR-TASS/Alexei Filippov

Photo ITAR-TASS/Alexei Filippov

MOSCOW, August 6 (Itar-Tass) - The lawyers of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and former MENATEP director Platon Lebedev said they would appeal the Supreme Court's ruling to uphold the second verdict in the Yukos case.

Earlier in the day, an appeals board of the Supreme Court reduced the jail terms for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev from 11 years to 10 years and 10 months each. The Court said the verdict was legal and justified.

"We're dissatisfied with the ruling and will appeal it with the Supreme Court chairman. We insist that the verdict by the Khamovniki court is absolutely illegal," lawyer Vladimir Krasnov said.

Khodorkovsky, who watched the review of the appeal via video link, said the Yukos case was one of the most significant factors behind the decrease in the quality of justice in the country. "Lower standards of evidence are assigned to high-profile trials. All the justice system in the country is falling apart. It's barbaric to so treat the law and the court's reputation," he said.

Platon Lebedev did not participate in the review. His lawyer Alexei Miroshnichenko called the verdict "absurd" and asked to overturn it.

On December 30, 2010, Moscow's Khamovniki court found Khodorkovsky and Lebedev guilty of theft and money laundering and sentenced them to 14 years in a general regime penitentiary. In May 2011 the prison term was reduced by one year.

The presidium of Moscow City Court further reduced their jail terms to 11 years on December 20, 2012.

Taking into account the latest commutation of their sentences, Lebedev is due to be set free in May 2014, and Khodorkovsky in August 2014.

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