MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- The lawyers for jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky say they have asked for his parole.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of Yukos Oil Company, in court in 2004.
Khodorkovsky was convicted of tax evasion and fraud in May 2005 after a politically tinged trial. He is serving an eight-year sentence and has been in custody for nearly five years.
His lawyers said Wednesday that they persuaded Khodorkovsky to ask for early release and have filed the request with the court in the Russian city of Chita.
The legal onslaught against Khodorkovsky and his Yukos oil company was widely seen as Kremlin punishment for his independence and political ambitions. Yukos has since been taken over by state oil company Rosneft.
The court's willingness to consider his parole is being seen as a test of new President Dmitry Medvedev's commitment to the rule of law.