Update: After Chris Bryant MP, former Minister for Europe and Chair of the Parliamentary All-Party Group on Russia, raised concerns over the treatment of Mikhail Khodorkovsky with British Prime Minister, he writes about the denial of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev’s appeal in his Independent column here:

Wednesday 23rd May 2012 – Speaking on the floor of the House of Commons today, former Minister for Europe and Chair of the Parliamentary All-Party Group on Russia, Chris Bryant MP, raised concerns over the treatment of Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

After the Prime Minister gave a statement updating MPs on discussions at the G8 and NATO summits, Mr Bryant raised Russia’s membership of the G8 and Khodorkovsky’s politically-motivated Supreme Court ruling.

Chris Bryant MP said: “Mr Speaker, it is good that the Russians have shared in the motion on Syria, but even leaving aside the rigged elections in the Russian Federation there are major human rights abuses still in Russia. For instance Mikhail Khodorkovsky, whose second trial has been universally condemned by every international organisation in the world, and indeed by many organisations in Russia. He tried to get an appeal for that – it was turned down only last week…”

In reply, Prime Minister Rt Hon David Cameron MP said: “Obviously we discuss regularly with Russian colleagues the importance of human rights and democracy. And when I visited Russia I met with civil society organisations to discuss precisely those issues…”

The Prime Minister has raised the Khodorkovsky case before. During his 2011 annual keynote speech on foreign policy at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet entitled ‘Foreign Policy in the National Interest’, the Prime Minister said:

“We must be bold enough to try and deal with the politics and the trade at the same time. In September I was the first British Prime Minister to visit Russia for five years. Of course there are things on which I think Russia is in the wrong. The Litvinenko case. Magnitsky. Khodorkovsky. We can’t pretend these differences – of human rights, the rule of law – don’t exist. They do.”

UK Foreign Affairs Committee Chair comments on Supreme Court ruling

In addition Richard Ottoway MP, Chair of the influential House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee weighed in on last week’s Russian Supreme Court ruling which rejected Khodorkovsky’s appeal against his second conviction and 13-year prison sentence.

He said: “Yet again doubt is cast on Russia’s willingness to respect the rule of law. If they wish to be taken seriously by the International Community this has to change”

Read more on the Supreme Court ruling here.