MOSCOW, December 13 - RAPSI. The defense of Platon Lebedev, the jailed business partner of Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against the ruling which denied him moral damages for being illegally kept in custody, the Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev press center reported.

The statement also reads that the attorneys have already filed appeals against the ruling and further legal acts with the Moscow City Court presidium.

"The reason why these lawsuits were filed was that after the Supreme Court recognized the applicant's detention illegal the Moscow Khamovnichesky District Court's judge systematically violated the law with regard to Lebedev's case by illegally extending his detention," according to the complaint filed with the ECHR.

The Arkhangelsk Region Velsk District Court ruled on November 1 to reduce Lebedev's prison term from 13 to 10 years, according to which he is due for release in July 2013.

The YUKOS case has been one of the most high profile in Russia over recent years. In the early 2000s, the authorities accused YUKOS executives Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev of tax evasion. YUKOS, then the country's largest oil company, went bankrupt and its assets were taken over by Rosneft.

Many in the West believe the case was politically driven. Moscow denies these 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, considering the time they had already served for their previous convictions from their first trial.

However, the Moscow City Court reduced their sentences by one year in May 2011.