The journalist of the «Daily journal» Zoya Svetova in her article «Results of the year. The president Dmitry Medvedev’s counter-proposal» discusses about a condition of the judicial system of Russia nowadays and remembers the most celebrated trials of 2008, among them – trial by default of the former «Yukos» vice-president Leonid Nevzlin, sentenced to life imprisonment, in spite of absence of witnesses and proofs of guilt. The author reminds that before with analogous charges there was convicted for life imprisonment, as an «accomplice of crime actions» Alexey Pichugin, serving his sentence in the colony «Black dolphin». At Leonid Nevzlin’s trial two false witnesses confessed that they had slandered the «Yukos» employees under the pressure of the General Prosecutor’s Office’s investigators, but it didn’t have an influence upon the sentence.
Strasbourg, 23.06.2009 – A report approved today by the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has recommended a series of steps to boost the independence of judges across Europe to end what it calls «politically-motivated interference» in individual cases.
Six years ago on June 19, 2003, there was an event which became the starting point for the criminal case which for many people has become significant and representing ignorance of justice and absence of freedom in modern Russia. On that day Aleksey Pichugin, the former Chief Security Officer of the oil company of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was arrested. This is how the «YUKOS Case» began. His attorneys and his mother Alla Nikolaevna told the portal HRO.org about the present state of the case of Aleksey Pichugin and where he is now.
Valeriya Novodvorskaya in the name of the party «Democratic union», which she heads, expressed a support to Alexey Pichugin. Our site got the letter, sent by Valeriya Novodvorskaya to the colony «Black dolphin».
On the 25-th of March, 2009 it became known that the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office sent to Israel another inquiry about the extradition of the former «Yukos» vice-president Leonid Nevzlin. The reason for this became the life-long sentence, passed regarding him by the Moscow City court in Leonid Nevzlin’s absense and came into effect on the 27-th of January.
The participants of the Union of solidarity with political prisoners, who had wished Alexey Pichugin a happy New Year, received the postcard from him with the words of gratitude.
After the refusal of the cassation of Leonid Nevzlin’s lawyers to the sentence, pronounced to him, and coming the sentence into validity, the businessman’s press-service spread the press release with its reaction to the judgment of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
On the 27-th of January, 2009 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dismissed the cassation appeal of Leonid Nevzlin’s defense. Thus, the life-long sentence, passed by the Moscow City court’s judge Valery Novikov, came into effect on the 1-st of August, 2008.
Alexey Pichugin wishes everyone a happy New Year and Merry Christmas and passes his best wishes! He thanks with all his heart everyone who writes him letters, everyone who reads his site and is interested in his case. Alexey Pichugin is deeply touched by that how many unknown people empathize with him, write him letters and send the books for the colony’s library. In the coming year Alexey wishes everyone a good health, a good luck, every success, peace and well!
