MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. The Presidium of Russia’s Supreme Court has left unchanged the verdict for former Yukos security chief Alexei Pichugin convicted for masterminding three killings and four attempted murders and sentenced to life imprisonment," TASS reports from the courtroom.

"The court rules to uphold the verdict and reject the defendant’s motion," the judge read out the judgment.

On August 6, 2007, the Moscow City Court sentenced Pichugin to life imprisonment for masterminding three murders and four attempted murders, including the killing of Nefteyugansk Mayor Vladimir Petukhov in 1998 and also of Moscow businesswoman Valentina Korneyeva and two failed attempts on the life of businessman Yevgeny Rybin, all those who posed a threat to or acted against Yukos interests.

Pichugin pleaded innocent. He insists he was unjustly sentenced for the crimes he had not committed.

On January 31, 2008 the Supreme Court upheld the verdict.

On June 6, 2017, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) pronounced its verdict on a second complaint filed by Pichugin to declare that Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was violated. The court ordered Russia to pay him 7,800 euros in compensation for moral damages and another 7,470 euros in compensation for judicial expenses.