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Supreme Court upholds life sentence for former Yukos security service chief

On August 6, 2007, Pichugin was sentenced to life imprisonment for masterminding three murders

MOSCOW, October 23 (Itar-Tass) - The presidium of the Russian Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld life sentence for former chief of the Yukos security service Alexei Pichugin, turning down the defense's petition to revise his case.

Earlier, Supreme Court chairperson Vyacheslav Lebedev submitted a statement to the Supreme Court presidium on reopening the investigation into Pichugin's case due to new circumstances, namely the decision by the European Court of Human Rights published in October 2012. At that time, the ECHR met Pichugin's complaint acknowledging violation of Articles 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights /right to freedom and safety and the right to fair trial - eds Itar-Tass/, and committed Russia to paying him 9,500 euros in damages. In March 2013, the ECHR refused to pass the case for new review to the ECHR's Grand Chamber, so the court's ruling came into effect.

On August 6, 2007, Pichugin was sentenced to life imprisonment for masterminding three murders, including the assassination of Nefteyugansk mayor Vladimir Petukhov, and four attempted murders.

The Supreme Court upheld the verdict in January 2008. In 2005, Pichugin was sentenced to 20 years for masterminding the murder of a married couple - Olga and Sergei Gorin - who ran a business in Tambov and the attempted murder of Rosprom manager Viktor Kolesov and head of Moscow Town Hall's public relations department Olga Kostina.