MOSCOW, August 3 - RAPSI. Presidential Commissioner for Entrepreneurs' Rights Boris Titov has proposed former YUKOS head Mikhail Khodorkovsky to file a formal request for an analysis of his second case with the Business against Corruption Center of Public Procedures, Titov's press service told the Prime information agency.
Khodorkovsky asked Titov to publicly assess his sentence in the second case against him on Thursday.
Khodorkovsky has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for oil theft and money laundering.
He assured the commissioner that he is prepared to provide the necessary explanations if experts have questions concerning the fairness or validity of his position.
"The Center's procedure requires you to file a formal request and the Public Council will then hold a legal review and give its opinion on the case," Titov replied in his letter.
The YUKOS case has been one of the most high profile in Russia in recent years. In the early 2000s, when YUKOS was the country's largest oil company, its executives were charged with economic crimes. YUKOS later went bankrupt and its assets were transferred to Rosneft. Many in the West believe the case was politically motivated, although Moscow denies these allegations.
In late 2010, the court sentenced Khodorkovsky and his partner Platon Lebedev to 14 years in prison. They were expected to be released in 2017, in view of the time they had already served for their previous convictions from their first trial in 2005. However, later the sentence was contested and the court shortened their prison term by one year.