MOSCOW, February 24 - RAPSI. The defense of former YUKOS head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and former Menatep head Platon Lebedev has filed a supervisory appeal with the Supreme Court against the prison sentence in their second case, the Khodorkovsky press center reports on Friday.

The appeal was filed with the Supreme Court's Judicial Division for Criminal Cases on Friday.

The YUKOS case has been one of the most high profile in Russia in recent years. In the early 2000s, the authorities accused the executives of YUKOS, then the country's largest oil company, of embezzlement and tax evasion. YUKOS then went bankrupt and its assets were transferred to the state-run Rosneft oil company. Many in the West believe the case against YUKOS was politically driven, but Moscow flatly denies the charges.

In 2005, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were sentenced to eight years in prison for fraud and tax evasion. In late 2010, a Moscow district court sentenced them to 14 years in prison for oil theft and money laundering. They were expected to be released in 2017, taking into account the time they had already served for their convictions from their first trial in 2005. However, on May 24, the Moscow City Court reduced their sentences by one year. They are now scheduled for release in 2016.