MOSCOW, June 7 - RAPSI. The Investigative Committee started investigating Khamovnichesky District Court Judge Viktor Danilkin at the urging of former YUKOS head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev, defense counsel Vadim Klyuvgant told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI).

Danilkin in December 2010 sentenced the former oil tycoons to 14 years in prison for oil theft and money laundering. The defense applied to the Investigative Committee for a criminal investigation of the judge for knowingly illegal sentencing.

The YUKOS case is one of the most high-profile Russian criminal cases in recent memory.

In 2005, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were sentenced to eight years in prison. In December 2010, a Moscow court sentenced them to 14 years in prison for stealing 200 million tons of oil and laundering the proceeds. However, on appeal, each of their sentences was reduced by one year.