Statement from defence team of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev:

The main thing today is the release of Platon Lebedev, who became one of the first hostages in the Yukos case in 2003. Many friends and associates of Platon Leonidovich have been waiting for this day together with his near and dear ones. But there were others waiting for his release too – for the active part of Russian society Lebedev as a free man is a symbol of hope and a harbinger of a turn for the better.

But today we also learned bad news. The Presidium of the Supreme Court of Russia did not drop the absurd 17.5bln-rouble claim, although the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) had found the claim to be groundless and not in compliance with the relevant norms of law, namely Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the ECHR. The agreement to pay Mikhail Khodorkovsky a ten-thousand-euro compensation, also awarded by the ECtHR, looks somewhat comical in this context.

The defence will continue to consistently use every legal mechanism to see the unlawful claim dropped, not least because the existence of the claim deprives Mikhail Borisovich from an opportunity to come back to Russia, because as long as the claim stands, the “iron curtain” can drop in front of him any time. And he cannot afford the luxury of losing his freedom of movement because of his health, family situation and strategic life plans.

The joy of the release of Platon Leonidovich Lebedev is mixed with the bitterness of the realisation that, unfortunately, the Yukos case has not been closed. The defence will continue to seek a review of all the unjust verdicts in the Yukos case by the Supreme Court of Russia. Some of the associates and former Yukos employees, who got caught in the wheels of criminal repressions, still remain in jail. And we will do everything it takes to have those unjustly convicted released as soon as possible, and to have all the unjust verdicts overturned. The Presidium of the Supreme Court has all the necessary powers and opportunities to make this happen. Victims of the Yukos case and their families are not the only ones who need their full release. Russia, which wants and seeks to understand that one of the most shameful pages of its post-Soviet history has been turned for good, needs it as well.