MOSCOW, May 29 - RAPSI. The prosecutor's office has challenged the decision to lift the freeze of property which belonged to deceased former YUKOS Vice-President Vasily Alexanyan, Gevorg Dangyan, the lawyer representing Alexanyans relatives, told the Russian Legal Information agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Thursday.

The property was seized as part of an embezzlement case against Alexanyan. The case was later dismissed due to the expiry of the statute of limitations.

As a result, the measure of restraint was cancelled, the deposit returned and the ruling taken not to uphold the lawsuit .

According to the Dangyan, the prosecutors' request consists of "basically the same arguments presented last time."

"For some unknown reason, it says that the court notified the affected party only once, even though two notices were actually given. The prosecutors believe that the affected partys absence at the trial violates their rights," said the attorney.

Aleksanyan died on October 3, 2011 at the age of 39. He was arrested in 2006, together with other top YUKOS managers, on charges of stealing property from Tomskneft and shares in refineries and oil producing companies owned by the Eastern Oil Company.

Aleksanyan spent nearly 2.5 years in prison. His lawyers asked for his pretrial conditions to be amended due to his poor health, but instead his custodial sentence was extended.

On February 8, 2008, the former top manager was moved from the pretrial detention center to an oncological hospital. In summer 2010, the court terminated the case proceedings as the statute of limitations had expired. He was never convicted or acquitted.

The YUKOS case has been one of the most high profile in Russia in recent years. In the early 2000s, the authorities accused YUKOS executives, then the country's largest oil company, of economic crimes. YUKOS then went bankrupt and its assets were transferred to Rosneft. Many in the West believe the case was politically driven, though Moscow denies these charges.

In 2005, YUKOS heads Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon 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 previous convictions from their first trial in 2005. However, on May 24, the Moscow City Court reduced their sentences by one year. They are now looking to be released in 2016.