Lebedev’s Application For Early Release Dismissed
January 23, 2013
After twice ruling in Lebedev’s favour in August and November 2012, deciding he should walk free in July or even March 2013, today the Velsk District Court dismissed Lebedev’s application for early release, citing a December 2012 ruling by the Moscow City Court that Lebedev must stay in prison at least until July 2014. The Moscow City Court has long been accused of doing the Kremlin’s bidding in the Khodorkovsky-Lebedev proceedings and other politically sensitive cases, and was said by judicial whistleblowers to have “rigged” the outcome of the second Khodorkovsky-Lebedev trial.
