The European Court of Human Rights will, on July 25, notify in writing a judgment concerning the second application lodged with it by Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. The application was first lodged in 2006 and concerns the first trial of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev which took place between 2004 and 2005. The text announcing the judgment was published on the Court’s website and can be read there or below:

Khodorkovskiy and Lebedev v. Russia (nos. 11082/06 and 13772/05)
The applicants are Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovskiy and Platon Leonidovich Lebedev,
Russian nationals, two former top-managers and major shareholders of a large industrial
group, including Yukos Oil. They are currently serving prison sentences in the Karelia
Region and in the Yamalo-Nenetskiy Region of Russia following their conviction in
September 2005 of large-scale tax evasion and fraud.
The case essentially concerns the two men’s complaint about the unfairness of the
criminal proceedings brought against them. They rely on Article 6 §§ 1 and 3(c) and (d)
(right to a fair trial within a reasonable time) and Article 8 (right to respect for family
and home) in relation to their transfer to very remote Siberian penal colonies. Both
applicants also allege under Article 7 (no punishment without law) that they suffered
from a completely novel and unpredictable interpretation of the tax law and under Article
18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) that their prosecution was politically
motivated.
Mr Khodorkovskiy further complains, under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of
property), about being ordered to reimburse tax arrears due by Yukos to the State
following his conviction and, under Article 34 (right of individual petition), about the
authorities’ harassment of his lawyers.
Mr Lebedev further complains under Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading
treatment) about the conditions of his detention on remand as well as about being
placed in a metal cage during court hearings on his case. He also makes a number of
complaints under Article 5 §§ 3 and 4 (right to liberty and security), concerning notably
the length of his detention on remand and the delayed examination of detention orders.
The domestic proceedings at the heart of the case are commonly known in Russia as
“the first trial of Khodorkovskiy and Lebedev”. This is the second case lodged by Mr
Khodorkovskiy and Mr Lebedev before the Court. Their first two applications concerned
the beginning of their criminal prosecution and were examined by the Court in 2011 and
2007, respectively.