MOSCOW, June 6 - RAPSI. The Preobrazhensky District Court in Moscow has returned the parole petitions of YUKOS ex-CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev, both sentenced to 13 years in prison, to their defense attorneys, the court secretary told  the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI).

The court secretary said that the petitions were rejected because they were missing some necessary documents.

According to Lebedev’s counsel, Konstantine Rivkin, the court wanted to receive from them two verdicts and two cassation rulings, while the Moscow City Court has yet to deliver the second ruling to them. He called the petition rejection, “a nice cover-up.”

Khodorkovsky and Lebedev filed their parole petitions on May 30. The following day, the court promised to schedule their petition hearing within a reasonable amount of time.

The parole petition procedure does not require a plea of guilt or innocence. Rather, it is merely a request to be released from prison before one’s sentence has been completed. Nevertheless, Khodorkovsky stated in his petition that he does not plead guilty.

The YUKOS case is one of Russia’s most high-profile criminal cases. In the early 2000’s, Russian authorities accused the YUKOS oil giant’s management of several economic crimes. Consequently, YUKOS went bankrupt and its assets were appropriated by Rosneft, a state corporation.