ARKHANGELSK, March 26 - RAPSI. The Arkhangelsk Region Court has dismissed the appeal of the former Menatep head Platon Lebedev's attorneys against the Velsk court's refusal to mitigate Lebedev's sentence, the regional prosecutor's office told RIA Novosti.
In January 2013, the Velsk Court dismissed the attorneys' request to adjust the verdicts in Lebedev's case according to the amended Criminal Code. The court said that the Presidium of the Moscow City Court had already reduced the sentence from 13 to 11 years.
The Arkhangelsk Region Court's criminal cases board on Tuesday ruled that the regional court dismissed the appeal legitimately and on sufficient grounds, because the attorneys' appeal which used similar arguments had been already heard by the Moscow Commercial Court.
The attorneys wrote in their complaint that the Velsk Court used a copy of the Moscow City Court's ruling that was not properly certified.
In late 2010, the Khamovnichesky District Court in Moscow sentenced Lebedev and former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky to 14 years on charges of embezzling 200 million metric tons of oil and of laundering the proceeds. The sentence was later reduced by one year. On December 20, 2012 the Moscow City Court reduced the sentence from 13 to 11 years.