MOSCOW, October 15 - RAPSI. The Velsk District Court will examine once again on November 1 the possibility of mitigating the punishment of former YUKOS head Mikhail Khodorkovsky's one-time business partner Platon Lebedev, who received a 13-year prison sentence for alleged oil theft and money laundering, the press center representing their interests has reported on Monday.

The Arkhangesk Regional Court sided with the prosecutor's office on September 21, ruling that the court, which had reduced his sentence from 13 years to nine years and eight months after amendments to criminal law on August 8, failed to motivate its decision in a sufficient manner.

The higher court has remanded the mitigation case for yet another review.

Both the prosecutors and the defense attorneys have disagreed with the ruling, as the former believe the sentence should only be cut to 11 years and three months, while the latter seek to reduce the term to the amount of time that Lebedev has already served.