Alexey Pichugin denied pardon by Orenburg Region Administration’s Commission for the third time!

June 4, 2020

On June 4, 2020 the Orenburg Region Administration’s Commission on Pardon Issues denied pardon to former Yukos staffer Alexey Pichugin, who has been in jail since 2003. Memorial Human Rights Centre has acknowledged him as a political prisoner. Pichugin is serving life in prison, and this is his third pardon denial. The European Court of Human Rights twice ruled that Russian authorities violated Pichugin’s right to a fair trial. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recommended that the Russian authorities consider releasing Pichugin – inter alia, via the pardon mechanism.

Novaya Gazeta reported:

Former Yukos staffer Alexey Pichugin denied pardon a third time 

June 4, 2020

On June 4, the Orenburg Region Pardon Commission denied the pardon application filed this spring by former Yukos Oil Company security division staffer Alexey Pichugin. This is the third pardon denial for the Yukos Affair convict serving life.

Although Pichugin addressed his pardon request to President Vladimir Putin, it was not the President who decided his fate, but regional officials – for the third time.

Pichugin has been incarcerated for exactly 17 years.

In 2007, Moscow City Court sentenced him to life in prison on charges of organizing murders in Yukos’ interests. The Yukos security division staffer never admitted his guilt. One of his trials was held in closed court, off-limits to the public and the media.

Subsequently, the European Court twice – in 2012 and 2017 – found that Article 6 of the European Convention, which guarantees the right to a fair trial, was violated during Pichugin’s trials at Moscow City Court. The Strasbourg court therefore noted a need to hold a new, fair trial for Pichugin. However, Russia refused to do so.

Several years ago, Memorial Human Rights Centre recognized Alexey Pichugin as a political prisoner. In his latest pardon application filed March 2020 addressed to the President, Pichugin noted that the European Court of Human Rights and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe have recommended on several occasions that the Russian authorities pardon Pichugin. Pichugin’s 81-yr old mother also sought her son’s pardon in a separate letter to Putin.

The former Yukos staffer is currently at Correctional Facility No. 6, a Federal government institution in Orenburg Region. This is a prison camp for those serving life, better known as the Black Dolphin.

Source: Novaya Gazeta, Former Yukos staffer Alexey Pichugin denied pardon a third time, June 4, 2020