The eyes of the world are now focused on the G-8 meeting. In this regard, I ask you to bring up with Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev the issue of amnesty for political prisoners, who are held in Russian jails on fabricated charges.

Criminal cases against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his Yukos colleagues are clearly political, initiated on orders from above. In plain view of the world community, the Kremlin is perpetrating monstrous, unprecedented lawlessness, victimizing dozens of innocent people.

Five years ago, on the 19-th of June, 2003, there was launched the «Yukos case». At that day Alexey Pichugin, taken the position of the head of the Economic Security Department as the part of the Security Service of the company, was arrested. Then, nobody could assume that the list of the shareholders and the «Yukos»’ employees who incurred a cruel pressure and persecution, would number tens of surnames, and the company itself would cease to exist.

Alexey Pichugin was the first one who faced the attack. Having neither imperious ambitions, nor relations to flow of funds, he suffered the cruelest punishment stipulated by Russian modern Criminal Code – in the total absence any direct proofs of his fault from the prosecution.

Alexey Pichugin stood this blow. Not having derogated in false perjury which the investigators had demanded from him during all five years, not having slandered neither himself nor the «Yukos»’ top-management, he found himself in a «Black dolphin», a colony for condemned to long-life imprisonment.

But it is very far to the end in Alexey Pichugin’s case, whatever they say from the rostrums. His appeal from the sentence is waiting its processing in the European Court of Human Rights. Lots of people try to free Alexey Pichugin by all the mean which are provided by law. His case is at the centre of public attention.

Today, on the fifth anniversary of the arrest the portal HRO.org publishes the points of view of many people about Alexey Pichugin.

To the portal HRO.org’ s questions there replied the human rights activists Elena Bonner, Svetlana Gannushkina, Lyudmila Alekseeva, a poetess and an anchorwoman Natella Boltyanskaya, a politician Alexey Melnikov and a former «Yukos»’ vice-president Leonid Nevzlin.

Russian human rights activists, politicians and foreign public figures on 22-nd of May addressed a letter in defense of Russian political prisoners to the president of Russia Dmitry Medvedev. Among those, whom the authors of the appeal call political prisoners and ask to pardon is Alexey Pichugin.

On the 23-d of April 2008 in the Moscow City Court at the extramural trial with regard to the former «Yukos»’ top manager Leonid Nevzlin’s case Alexey Pichugin has been interrogated as a witness. Specially for that, the ex-head of the Security department of the oil company had been transported by guard to Moscow from the colony IK-6 («Black dolphin») of the town Sol-Iletsk of the Orenburg region, where he serves his lifelong sentence.

According to the version of the General Prosecutor’s Office, Alexey Pichugin and «other unknown persons of the „Yukos“’ top-management conspired criminally at an unstated time and in an unstated place» with a purpose of the «organization of crimes in the company’s interests».

Alexey Pichugin does not plead guilty. At the present time his appeal from the sentence is going to be considered in the European Court of Human Rights.

At the hearings of the Leonid Nevzlin’s case on April, 23 Alexey Pichugin stated again about his guiltlessness and about the pressure upon him from the direction of the General Prosecutor’s Office with a purpose to corrupt him to false statement regarding Leonid Nevzlin.

Today in the Moscow City Court the main witnesses for prosecution have refused the evidence against the «Yukos» employees Leonid Nevzlin and Alexey Pichugin.

On the 21-st of April at the court session of the Moscow City Court with regard to the case of the former top-manager of the «Yukos» oil company Leonid Nevzlin the witnesses for prosecution Gennady Tsygelnik and Evgeny Reshetnikov have refused their previous evidence.

They have stated that they slandered Nevzlin and the head of the «Yukos» Security service Alexey Pichugin under pressure of the investigation bodies in exchange for indulgences in term of imprisonment.

We shall remind that Gennady Tsygelnik and Evgeny Reshetnikov were the trump cards of the General Prosecutor’s Office during the investigation and at court with regard to Alexey Pichugin’s case. These were their words which formed the basis of the judgment of conviction, according to which Alexey Pichugin got long-life imprisonment in the high-security penal colony.

Alexey Pichugin’s lawyer Kseniya Kostromina has informed about it today. As it became clear, since March, 6, 2008 Alexey Pichugin has been locating in the high-security penal colony IK-6 in the town of Sol-Iletsk of the Orenburg region, which is also known as «Black dolphin».

The colony «Black dolphin» is the biggest colony in Russia for life-term prisoners, contained about 1000 prisoners. This institution got its name thanks to the sculpture of a black dolphin, situated in the yard. Prisoners are contained in four-men cells. Some of them work – sew shoos, make stuffed animals.

Alexey Pichigin’s lawyers intend to visit their client in two weeks when the quarantine is over.

See also: Letter to the European Parliament: Support Prisoner Alexey Pichugin!

It is the third day when the lawyers of Alexey Pichugin, the former employee of the «Yukos» oil company, can’t find him. On Wednesday, having come to the Moscow detention facility №99/1, where Alexey Pichugin was kept, they haven’t found their client there.

As it was reported before, Alexey Pichugin has already been transported by guard to a colony from the detention facility «Matrosskaya Tishina», where he was kept.

The representative of the Federal Penal Enforcement Service of the Russian Federation (FSIN) has denied the information about transportation of Pichugin to the colony, the internet news portal Lenta.ru is reported. «We do not confirm this information», — the official representative of the FSIN has stated. He hasn’t said anything about the prisoner’s location.

Yesterday, in the Moscow City Court there started the preliminary hearings of the «Yukos»’s shareholder Leonid Nevzlin’s case, who is accused, in his absence, of organization of series of crimes and attempts. Before, of the same episodes there was accused the former employee of the Security department of «Yukos» Alexey Pichugin. Thus, according to the lawyers Dmitry Kurepin and Kseniya Kostromina, at court sessions with regard to Nevzlin’s case Alexey Pichugin might be interrogated.

However, today it turned out that from the detention facility «Matrosskaya Tishina», where he was kept, Alexey Pichugin has already transported under guard to a colony. The lawyers and Alexey Pichugin’s relatives have no information till now to what colony he is sent, and who personally took the decision about his transportation. An official notification must come during a month.