JUSTICE | 27.07.2011

Russian court considers release of jailed tycoon's business partner

 

Lebedev was originally taken into custody in 2003

A Russian court has begun to consider the early release of Platon Lebedev, the former business partner of controversially imprisoned oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. However, supporters are not optimistic.

 

Former businessman Platon Lebedev's appeal for early release from prison began on Tuesday in Velsk - a sleepy town surrounded by vast tracts of forest, some 600 kilometers (370 miles) north of Moscow.

Lebedev is spending the remainder of a thirteen year prison sentence near the city, at a facility known as penal colony number 14.

Outside the court, a small group of people called for Lebedev's release, including local activists who have started an online petition to support their demand. In the letter, they urged judges "not to put their own reputation and the good name of Velsk to shame," and to free Lebedev.

Supporters of Lebedev claim he is in jail for the funding of Putin's opponentsSupporters claim that Lebedev and his ex-business partner Mikhail Khodorkovsky, found guilty of tax evasion, are political prisoners for daring to fund opposition to former president Vladimir Putin.

Alleged misconduct

During the hearing, prison official Anatoly Korsunsky gave a negative account of Lebedev's behavior so far. In the short time he has spent in Velsk, he said, there had been two complaints about Lebedev's behavior.

Lebedev, in prison since 2003, was alleged to have lost his prison outfit and to have addressed an official in an impolite manner. The witness also summed up examples of Lebedev's alleged misconduct in other prisons. He concluded that Lebedev reacted well to so-called "educational measures," but, "does not always draw the right conclusions for himself."

Scheduled for release in 2016

As a result of the negative testimony from the prison, some of Lebedev's supporters have inferred that he is unlikely to be released in the near future. Indeed, he is not scheduled for release until 2016. In a recent interview Lebedev indicated he would not ask for amnesty.

Khodorkovsky, center, and Lebedev, right, were found guilty on tax evasion chargesPerhaps the most striking testimony came from Lebedev's nine year old daughter Maria, who was one year old when her father was arrested. She was not present in the room, but lawyer Yelena Liptser read out her handwritten letter to the judge.

"My mother told me that daddy would come home in 2011, but this has not happened," read the letter. "I cry almost every day and cannot sleep because I think of daddy. Mother said that you want daddy to change, but he was already the best. He does not need to change."

The hearing will continue on Wednesday. A guilty verdict was upheld earlier this year against Khodorkovsky, who is in another prison in the neighboring region of Karelia.

Author: Geert Groot Koerkamp / rc
Editor: Andreas Illmer

 

 

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