[5] The other four ultimate beneficial owners of GML Limited are Leonid Nevzlin, Mikhail Brudno, Vladimir Dubov and Vasily Shakhnovsky.

[6] On 2 July 2003, Lebedev, then chairman of the board of Menatep, was summoned as a witness to the Prosecutor General's Office in an investigation into embezzlement of state funds.

"A short prison sentence might be considered a victory for Mr. Putin's protégé, President Dmitry A. Medvedev, a former law professor who is thought of as less of a hard-liner.

Mr. Medvedev has been promoting policies to modernize Russia, and analysts say the Khodorkovsky case is an obstacle toward convincing foreign investors that the country's legal system is fair.

"[12][13] On 24 May 2011, Lebedev and Khodorkovsky were named prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, which criticized the men's second trial and called for their release on the expiry of their initial sentences.

On 25 October 2013, the Berlin International Literature Festival held a worldwide reading in solidarity with Platon Lebedev and all criminals who allege they are political prisoners in Russia.