Platon Lebedev

He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the international financial group MENATEP and manager of shares in OJSC NK YUKOS. On 2 July 2003, after refusing to appear for questioning at the General Prosecutor's Office, he was detained at the Vishnevsky Hospital on suspicion of theft of 20 per cent of state-owned shares in the Murmansk-based Apatit OJSC worth $283 million 142 thousand. Lebedev was taken into custody. On 31 May 2005, he was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment in a general regime colony; while awaiting the appeal decision, he refused to go for walks and was placed in a punishment cell for a week. In September 2005, the sentence was reduced to eight years. He was recognised as a political prisoner as a result of the fabrication of the case against YUKOS. In December 2006, while serving his sentence for theft and tax evasion, Lebedev was transferred from the colony to a pre-trial detention centre in Chita, where he was charged with oil theft. In February 2009, he was transferred to Moscow. On 30 December 2010, Lebedev was sentenced to 14 years in a general regime colony. On 24 May 2011, the appellate court reduced the sentence to 13 years. On 20 December 2012, the supervisory-instance court reduced the sentence to 11 years. On 23 January 2014, the Presidium of the Supreme Court reduced the sentence to time served, and Lebedev was released on 24 January.