Chronology of Events

To view a visual timeline of the events relating to the Pichugin Case, the Yukos Affair, and the international reactions please refer to the tablet/desktop version of the site.

Timeline

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Vladimir Putin becomes President of the Russian Federation.

1999

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Mr. Putin gathers Russian business leaders, warning them to keep out of political matters.

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

2000

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Late in 2001, Yukos Chairman Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other core Yukos shareholders found Open Russia, an NGO dedicated to opening up and developing civil society in Russia.

2001

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

2002

Jan

Feb

Yukos Chairman Mikhail Khodorkovsky publicly challenges Vladimir Putin over the corruption endemic in his administration.

Mar

Mr. Putin forms a special unit within the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office to fabricate evidence against Yukos, its employees and leaders.

Apr

May

Jun

From June to October, Mr. Pichugin is repeatedly pressured to provide incriminating testimony against Yukos and Mr. Nevzlin.

Following a search of his apartment and workplace, Alexey Pichugin is arrested and brought to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Lefortovo Prison in Moscow. The FSB is the successor to the USSR’s KGB.

Mr. Pichugin is formally charged with having organized the murders or attempted murders of: Viktor Kolesov, a Yukos company manager mugged and beaten up in October 1998; Olga Kostina, a functionary in the Moscow mayor’s office, whose parents had a small home-made explosive device detonate outside their apartment in November 1998 (Ms. Kostina did not live there); and Sergey and Olga Gorin, a Tambov couple who disappeared after their house was robbed by armed men in November 2002. No evidence links Mr. Pichugin to these crimes. Instead, the charges are based on layered hearsay about what the alleged perpetrators were told by others.

Event 1 of 3

Jul

In the summer of 2003, Mr. Khodorkovsky and Yukos Deputy Chairman Leonid Nevzlin provide financial support to the liberal SPS and the social democrat Yabloko parties. Mr. Khodorkovsky becomes active in lobbying against legislation supported by Mr. Putin.

Platon Lebedev, Yukos executive and core shareholder, is arrested from his hospital bed on tax evasion, money laundering and embezzlement charges.

Russian authorities begin a series of commando-style raids on Yukos facilities and the homes of Yukos employees.

Event 1 of 3

During an interrogation at the FSB prison, Mr. Pichugin is injected with psychotropic drugs in an attempt to extract from him incriminating evidence that Mr. Nevzlin ordered him to commit the crimes with which Mr. Pichugin had been charged.

Aug

Sep

Oct

Mr. Khodorkovsky’s plane is boarded by armed commandos who take him at gunpoint on the tarmac at the Novosibirsk Airport in Siberia during a refueling stop. Mr. Khodorkovsky is charged with financial fraud and tax evasion. The charges mirror those against Mr. Lebedev.

Nov

The United States Senate adopts a resolution sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Joseph Lieberman concluding that the arrest of Yukos leaders exemplified a selective application of the rule of law for political purposes.

Dec

Russian Tax Ministry announces that Yukos owes billions of dollars of additional taxes. The Ministry had previously issued a certificate that Yukos owed no additional taxes. The Ministry took just three weeks to reverse that certificate.

2003

Jan

Mr. Nevzlin is formally charged with tax violations based on his use of tax strategies that were well-known and widely used in Russia at the time.

Mr. Nevzlin publicly endorses Irina Khakamada, the opposition candidate for the presidential election, and her “Free Russia” party.

Mr. Nevzlin’s indictment is expanded to include allegations of alleged fraud based on a 1998 stock swap transaction between Yukos and a related entity.

Event 1 of 3

Feb

A motion to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (“PACE”) to appoint a Rapporteur to investigate the Yukos cases highlights the politically motivated nature of Russia’s activities against Mr. Khodorkovsky, Mr. Nevzlin, and Yukos (including Mr. Pichugin).

Mar

Apr

The Russian Tax Ministry announces billions more in tax assessments against Yukos.

A Russian court grants the Tax Ministry’s request to freeze Yukos’s assets, making it impossible for the company to pay any tax assessments.

Event 1 of 2

May

Jun

Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev’s trial begins, with both defendants confined to a metal cage in the courtroom during proceedings.

Jul

Mr. Nevzlin is charged with being responsible for the same murders and attempted murders with which Mr. Pichugin is charged. Again, there is no actual evidence linking either man to the underlying crimes.

Aug

Sep

Oct

Mr. Pichugin’s first trial begins on the June 2003 indictment against him. The proceedings are closed to the public on the pretext that evidence of the dated street crimes with which he is charged reveal Russian “state secrets.”

Nov

The PACE Rapporteur releases a report of her findings concerning the Yukos case, discussing Mr. Pichugin’s interrogation with psychotropic drugs, that he is held in a prison under the control of the Russian FSB rather than the Ministry of Justice and that his trial is being conducted in secret.

Dec

The judge in Mr. Pichugin’s criminal case discharges the jury, which had appeared sympathetic to him.

As a result of the retroactive tax assessments against Yukos, Yukos’s prime asset, the production company Yuganskneftegaz, is sold off at a state-run auction.

2004

Jan

Mr. Pichugin’s trial is restarted with a new jury.

PACE adopts a resolution finding that “[T]the circumstances surrounding the arrest and prosecution of the leading Yukos executives strongly suggest that they are a clear case of non-conformance with the rule of law and that these executives were — in violation of the principle of equality before the law — arbitrarily singled out by the authorities.”

Feb

In meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during her trip to Europe, then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expresses the United States’ concern over the Russian Federation’s actions to seize Yukos’s assets and arrest its leaders in the context of a “crackdown on dissent” in Russia.

Mar

Mr. Pichugin is found guilty after his closed-door trial.

Mr. Pichugin is sentenced to twenty years in prison.

Event 1 of 2

A British court denies the extradition of two Yukos employees, Dmitry Maruev and Natalya Chernysheva, concluding that these individuals, like others associated with Yukos, are being prosecuted for political reasons.

Apr

New charges for additional “murders” and “attempted murders” from 1998 and 1999 are announced against Mr. Pichugin. The alleged crimes include the murder of Valentina Korneyeva, a tea shop owner; the attempted murder of Russian businessman Evgeny Rybin; the attempted murder of Mr. Rybin’s bodyguards; and the murder of his driver. Again, there is no evidence tying Mr. Pichugin to these crimes.

May

The trial against Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev ends with guilty verdicts for both men. They are each sentenced to nine years in prison, though that sentence is later reduced to eight years.

Jun

Jul

Mr. Nevzlin flies to the United States at the invitation of the U.S. Congress.

Mr. Nevzlin speaks at a hearing before the United States Congress. The hearing before the Congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe is entitled “The Yukos Affair and its Implications for Politics and Business in Russia.”

Event 1 of 2

Mr. Pichugin is interrogated and a further charge for an additional “murder” from 1998 – the murder of a town mayor, V. Petukhov – is announced against him. Mr. Nevzlin is also charged in this incident, as well as the incidents Mr. Pichugin was charged in on April 14, 2005. Once more, there is no evidence tying Mr. Pichugin (or Mr. Nevzlin) to those crimes. Instead, they depend on layered hearsay that is ultimately recanted.

Russian Deputy Prosecutor General V. Kolesnikov appears on multiple Russian news shows stating both Mr. Pichugin’s and Mr. Nevzlin’s guilt as if it had already been established.

Event 1 of 2

Aug

Sep

Senior Russian Investigator Yuri Burtovoi not only re-states Messrs. Pichugin’s and Nevzlin’s guilt in the Petukhov murder during a televised interview, but also publicizes selected portions of the case file.

Oct

Nov

Dec

A British court denies the extradition of Yukos employee Alexander Temerko, finding that the case against him is politically motivated by a desire to punish Mr. Khodorkovsky. The Court specifically observed that Mr. Pichugin’s rights had been violated in Russia and the Court denied extradition, in part, based on a finding that Mr. Temerko could be similarly abused.

2005

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Mr. Pichugin’s second trial begins, this time before a judge and not a jury, a decision forced on him by officials’ having tainted the jury pool with their statements to the press regarding Mr. Pichugin’s guilt.

Yukos General Counsel Vasily Aleksanyan is arrested.

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Mr. Pichugin is found guilty of the second set of charges against him. He is sentenced to 21 years in prison, to run concurrently with the sentence handed down in his first trial.

Sep

Oct

A Lithuanian court denies extradition and grants political asylum to Yukos employee Igor Babenko, agreeing that the evidence supported a conclusion that the prosecutions of Mr. Khodorkovsky and others associated with Yukos represented persecution of a “social group” “not on the causes of a criminal nature, but instigated through the pursuance of the official authority to frustrate political opposition and regain the control over the strategic economical assets.”

Nov

Dec

2006

Jan

Feb

New charges of embezzlement and money laundering are brought against Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, who would otherwise have been eligible for parole during 2007. These charges accuse them of “stealing” Yukos’s entire oil production by overseeing the sale of oil between Yukos’s production and refining companies at less than market price. Such “transfer pricing” between related entities in a vertically structured oil company are industry standard.

The Russian Supreme Court reverses Mr. Pichugin’s conviction in the second case against him, finding that the verdict against him was “based on assumptions” and that “exculpatory evidence is used to substantiate a guilty verdict.” At the same time, the court states that Mr. Pichugin’s sentence should be harsher after retrial and subsequent conviction. The court was thus clear what the ultimate result in the case should be.

Mar

Apr

Mr. Pichugin’s retrial begins on the second set of charges against him, but based on the same evidence found lacking by the Russian Supreme Court. Key prosecution witness Ovsyannikov recants his prior inculpatory statements. He says that he was given the names of Pichugin, Nevzlin and Khodorkovsky and told to falsely implicate them in the crimes or else Ovsyannikov would be charged with being the head of an organized criminal group.

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

The pre-determined guilty verdict is reached in Mr. Pichugin’s re-trial. Consistent with the order of the Russian Supreme Court that he be sentenced more harshly upon conviction, this time, Mr. Pichugin is sentenced to life in prison.

Mr. Pichugin files his application to the European Court of Human Rights for review of the second case against him.

Event 1 of 2

The Swiss Federal Tribunal reverses the Swiss Attorney General’s decision to cooperate with mutual legal assistance treaty requests from Russia in the Khodorkovsky, Nevzlin and Lebedev cases, concluding that the facts “corroborate the suspicion that this criminal proceeding was orchestrated by the powers that be in order to subordinate the class of rich ‘oligarchs’ and do away with potential or sworn political opponents.”

A Dutch court concludes that Yukos itself was denied a fair trial in the bankruptcy proceedings that lead to the company’s expropriation to state-owned enterprises.

Event 1 of 2

Sep

Oct

Nov

Between November 27th and December 20th, Russian authorities ignore three successive injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights, each ordering that Vasily Aleksanyan be given medical treatment. Authorities hold Mr. Aleksanyan in an attempt to extract incriminating testimony from him about Mr. Khodorkovsky or other Yukos leaders. Mr. Aleksanyan ultimately dies after not receiving medical help in time.

Dec

2007

Jan

The Russian Supreme Court upholds Mr. Pichugin’s second conviction, even though it is based on the same evidence the court found inadequate in his first appeal in the case.

Feb

Mar

The Russian Federation begins an in absentia trial of Leonid Nevzlin based on allegations that Mr. Nevzlin instructed Mr. Pichugin to order the crimes for which Mr. Pichugin was convicted. As in Mr. Pichugin’s trials, the case depends on layered hearsay evidence.

Apr

A Cypriot court grants political asylum to a former Yukos employee, Vladislav Kartashov, citing PACE’s findings concerning Mr. Pichugin among the evidence that supported its conclusion that Yukos-related charges in Russia are “tainted with political motives” and any extradition would result in a “real risk that [Kartashov’s] right to a fair Trial will be flagrantly violated.”

May

In a decision affirming Israel’s refusal to extradite Mr. Nevzlin, the Israeli Supreme Court reviews the “evidence” in the murder and attempted murder cases against Mr. Nevzlin and Mr. Pichugin, concluding there is no ground for extradition because “there was not a single piece of direct evidence linking Nevzlin to involvement in those acts [with which he is charged].”

Jun

Jul

Aug

Mr. Nevzlin’s in absentia trial ends with a guilty verdict. He is sentenced to life in prison.

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

2008

Jan

Feb

Mar

The second trial against Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev begins. Again, they are kept in metal cages in the courtroom during trial.

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopts a resolution sharply critical of the politicization of the Russian criminal justice system, specifically identifying Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev’s cases as examples.

Oct

Nov

Dec

2009

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

An international arbitration panel in Stockholm issues its decision in the RosInvestCo UK Ltd. case, concluding that Russia imposed retroactive and never before used interpretations of its tax code in order to expropriate Yukos’s assets.

Oct

Nov

Dec

The second trial of Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev on embezzlement and money laundering charges ends with a guilty verdict for both. They are sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony.

2010

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Amnesty International names Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev “Prisoners of Conscience,” noting that “[f]or several years now these two men have been trapped in a judicial vortex that answers to political not legal considerations.”

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

2011

Jan

The European Court of Human Rights rules that the taking of Yukos, including through the sham auction of Yuganskneftegaz, violated the European Convention of Human Rights. The Court issues a record $2.2 billion award against the Russian Federation, which is never paid.

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

An international arbitration panel in Stockholm issues its decision in the Quasar de Valores case, finding that the Russian Federation had expropriated Yukos’s assets to state-owned entities.

Aug

Mr. Nevzlin’s second in absentia trial begins based on the embezzlement charges returned against him in January 2004.

Sep

Oct

The European Court of Human Rights deems Mr. Pichugin’s pre-trial detention and his first trial to be unfair and in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. It states that he should be given a new, fair trial.

Nov

Dec

2012

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Mr. Nevzlin’s second in absentia trial ends with a guilty verdict. He is sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. However, in light of his existing life sentence arising from his first in absentia trial, the “final sentence” imposed is life in prison at a maximum security correctional facility.

Jul

The European Court of Human rights deems the first trial of Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to have violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Mr. Khodorkovsky is released from prison by presidential pardon after more than ten years in prison. The pardon follows years of international pressure on Mr. Putin, but appears to be motivated largely by Mr. Putin’s desire to boost his image leading up to the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

2013

Jan

Platon Lebedev is released from prison.

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague completes a nine-year investigation into the Yukos Affair, finding that Russia’s actions against Yukos and its shareholders were destructive and unlawful, and involved a “campaign of harassment and intimidation” against “Yukos senior executives, mid-level employees, in-house counsel, external lawyers and related entities.” The tribunal issues a record $50 billion damage award against the Russian Federation in favor of Yukos shareholders. The judgment is on appeal on procedural issues, but its factual findings remain intact.

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

2014

Jan

Feb

Mar

PACE approves a resolution on the state of the rule of law, observing that its prior resolutions on the subject have not been implemented by the Russian Federation, “notably those regarding the cases of former leading executives of Yukos.”

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Mr. Pichugin petitions Russian President Vladimir Putin to pardon him.

Dec

After Mr. Khodorkovsky remains active in civil society and Russian politics, and after former Yukos shareholders begin efforts to enforce the July 2014 arbitration judgment, Russian authorities bring new charges against Mr. Khodorkovsky, this time for alleged involvement in the 1998 Petukhov murder for which Mr. Pichugin and Mr. Nevzlin were previously charged. Consequently, Mr. Khodorkovsky seeks and obtains political asylum in Britain based on these charges.

2015

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Mr. Pichugin’s attorneys announce that Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied his petition for pardon.

Jul

In July, Mr. Pichugin is told that his brother would be subject to arrest if he does not bow to Russian authorities’ demands to testify against Mr. Khodorkovsky. In light of his ongoing refusal to incriminate Yukos leadership, Kremlin operatives raid the homes of both his brother and elderly mother.

Aug

Sep

Oct

In an open letter to Vladimir Putin, Mr. Pichugin’s mother, Alla Nikolaevna Pichugina, petitions the Russian President to pardon her son.

Nov

Dec

2016

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Pierre-Yves Le Borgn’, PACE Rapporteur on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, speaks to PACE during open debate about Mr. Pichugin’s case, stating that Mr. Pichugin’s treatment amounts to “moral torture.”

May

Mr. Pichugin files a second petition for pardon while reiterating his innocence.

Jun

The ECHR issues its judgment in the second case against Mr. Pichugin, finding that Russian authorities violated the presumption of innocence and further violated his right to present defense evidence.

PACE adopts resolution expressing deep concern about serious structural problems in a number of countries, including Russia, regarding the implementation of ECHR judgments.

Event 1 of 2

According to media reports, a specialized commission dismissed Mr. Pichugin’s second request for a presidential pardon.

Jul

Aug

Sep

Pierre-Yves Le Borgn’, PACE rapporteur on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, again expresses concern over Mr. Pichugin’s situation and the failure of Russian authorities to remedy the Human Rights violations found by the European Court of Human Rights in his case.

Oct

Nov

The Russian Supreme Court upholds Alexey Pichugin’s sentence to life in prison, refusing a new trial in the face of the ECHR judgment stating he should receive one.

Dec

2017

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

2018

Jan

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands rules that the 2006 Russian judgment declaring Yukos Oil bankrupt in the Russian Federation was in violation of principles and values fundamental to Dutch legal order, and will thus not be recognized in the Netherlands. As a key consequence of this ruling, — which upholds an earlier lower courts appeals court decision — “it has been established definitively that the liquidator was not authorised to transfer shares in Yukos Finance to the Russian company OOO Promneftstroy and that Promneftstroy therefore did not become the owner of shares in Yukos Finance.”

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Vladimir Kara-Murza, Chairman of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation, addresses the 41st session of the UN Human Rights Council (Geneva, Switzerland) on the issue of political prisoners in the Russian Federation, including the country’s longest-serving political prisoner, Alexey Pichugin

Aug

Sep

During a side event at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Vladimir Kara-Murza, President of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation, discusses the issue of Russia’s political prisoners, including Alexey Pichugin

Oct

Nov

Dec

2019

Jan

In a new judgment, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rules that former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were denied their right to a fair trial when a Russian court tried and convicted them of embezzlement and money laundering. While not finding any “political motives” in the prosecution, the ECHR holds that the defendants’ treatment by the Russian courts constituted violations of three articles of the European Convention of Human Rights.

At the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, France) 43 parliamentarians from 16 European countries support a motion for a resolution on political prisoners in the Russian Federation (Doc. 15049) to appoint an Assembly rapporteur for addressing this issue

During a side event at the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, France), Vladimir Kara-Murza of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation and Sergey Davidis of the Memorial Human Rights Center brief members of PACE on the growing crisis with politically motivated imprisonment in the Russian Federation. They discuss both the overall scope of the issue, and the plight of several individuals, including Alexey Pichugin, Russia’s longest-serving political prisoner

Event 1 of 2

Feb

Vladimir Kara-Murza, President of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation, addresses attendees at a side event to the winter meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (Vienna, Austria) on the problem of political prisoners in participating states, including the Russian Federation. Among the cases discussed at the meeting was the case of Alexey Pichugin, Russia’s longest-serving prisoner, who has been incarcerated since 2003

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

2020

This timeline provides a visual snapshot of Mr. Pichugin’s ordeal. It concurrently shows key events in Mr. Putin’s anti-Yukos campaign, in which Mr. Pichugin’s case is inextricably intertwined. The world has been repulsed by Russia’s conduct in the Yukos cases, including Mr. Pichugin’s. The timeline of this global reaction is also shown here. To fully grasp how and why an ordinary manager and family man like Mr. Pichugin became a pawn in President Putin’s quest against Yukos, one needs to consider the full scope and context of said campaign, and understand the backstories of the fabricated cases against him, which predate his arrest.

Chronology of Events

Click on the text under the date to learn more.

1999

Dec-31-1999

Vladimir Putin becomes President of the Russian Federation.

2000

Jul-28-2000

Mr. Putin gathers Russian business leaders, warning them to keep out of political matters.

2001

Dec-01-2001

Late in 2001, Yukos Chairman Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other core Yukos shareholders found Open Russia, an NGO dedicated to opening up and developing civil society in Russia.

2003

Feb-19-2003

Yukos Chairman Mikhail Khodorkovsky publicly challenges Vladimir Putin over the corruption endemic in his administration.

Mar-03-2003

Mr. Putin forms a special unit within the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office to fabricate evidence against Yukos, its employees and leaders.

Jun-03-2003

From June to October, Mr. Pichugin is repeatedly pressured to provide incriminating testimony against Yukos and Mr. Nevzlin.

Jun-19-2003

Following a search of his apartment and workplace, Alexey Pichugin is arrested and brought to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Lefortovo Prison in Moscow. The FSB is the successor to the USSR’s KGB.

Jun-26-2003

Mr. Pichugin is formally charged with having organized the murders or attempted murders of: Viktor Kolesov, a Yukos company manager mugged and beaten up in October 1998; Olga Kostina, a functionary in the Moscow mayor’s office, whose parents had a small home-made explosive device detonate outside their apartment in November 1998 (Ms. Kostina did not live there); and Sergey and Olga Gorin, a Tambov couple who disappeared after their house was robbed by armed men in November 2002. No evidence links Mr. Pichugin to these crimes. Instead, the charges are based on layered hearsay about what the alleged perpetrators were told by others.

Jul-01-2003

In the summer of 2003, Mr. Khodorkovsky and Yukos Deputy Chairman Leonid Nevzlin provide financial support to the liberal SPS and the social democrat Yabloko parties. Mr. Khodorkovsky becomes active in lobbying against legislation supported by Mr. Putin.

Jul-02-2003

Platon Lebedev, Yukos executive and core shareholder, is arrested from his hospital bed on tax evasion, money laundering and embezzlement charges.

Jul-11-2003

Russian authorities begin a series of commando-style raids on Yukos facilities and the homes of Yukos employees.

Jul-14-2003

During an interrogation at the FSB prison, Mr. Pichugin is injected with psychotropic drugs in an attempt to extract from him incriminating evidence that Mr. Nevzlin ordered him to commit the crimes with which Mr. Pichugin had been charged.

Oct-25-2003

Mr. Khodorkovsky’s plane is boarded by armed commandos who take him at gunpoint on the tarmac at the Novosibirsk Airport in Siberia during a refueling stop. Mr. Khodorkovsky is charged with financial fraud and tax evasion. The charges mirror those against Mr. Lebedev.

Nov-21-2003

The United States Senate adopts a resolution sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Joseph Lieberman concluding that the arrest of Yukos leaders exemplified a selective application of the rule of law for political purposes.

Dec-29-2003

Russian Tax Ministry announces that Yukos owes billions of dollars of additional taxes. The Ministry had previously issued a certificate that Yukos owed no additional taxes. The Ministry took just three weeks to reverse that certificate.

2004

Jan-12-2004

Mr. Nevzlin is formally charged with tax violations based on his use of tax strategies that were well-known and widely used in Russia at the time.

Jan-14-2004

Mr. Nevzlin publicly endorses Irina Khakamada, the opposition candidate for the presidential election, and her “Free Russia” party.

Jan-21-2004

Mr. Nevzlin’s indictment is expanded to include allegations of alleged fraud based on a 1998 stock swap transaction between Yukos and a related entity.

Feb-12-2004

A motion to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (“PACE”) to appoint a Rapporteur to investigate the Yukos cases highlights the politically motivated nature of Russia’s activities against Mr. Khodorkovsky, Mr. Nevzlin, and Yukos (including Mr. Pichugin).

Apr-14-2004

The Russian Tax Ministry announces billions more in tax assessments against Yukos.

Apr-15-2004

A Russian court grants the Tax Ministry’s request to freeze Yukos’s assets, making it impossible for the company to pay any tax assessments.

Jun-16-2004

Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev’s trial begins, with both defendants confined to a metal cage in the courtroom during proceedings.

Jul-21-2004

Mr. Nevzlin is charged with being responsible for the same murders and attempted murders with which Mr. Pichugin is charged. Again, there is no actual evidence linking either man to the underlying crimes.

Oct-04-2004

Mr. Pichugin’s first trial begins on the June 2003 indictment against him. The proceedings are closed to the public on the pretext that evidence of the dated street crimes with which he is charged reveal Russian “state secrets.”

Nov-29-2004

The PACE Rapporteur releases a report of her findings concerning the Yukos case, discussing Mr. Pichugin’s interrogation with psychotropic drugs, that he is held in a prison under the control of the Russian FSB rather than the Ministry of Justice and that his trial is being conducted in secret.

Dec-09-2004

The judge in Mr. Pichugin’s criminal case discharges the jury, which had appeared sympathetic to him.

Dec-19-2004

As a result of the retroactive tax assessments against Yukos, Yukos’s prime asset, the production company Yuganskneftegaz, is sold off at a state-run auction.

2005

Jan-25-2005

Mr. Pichugin’s trial is restarted with a new jury.

Jan-25-2005

PACE adopts a resolution finding that “[T]the circumstances surrounding the arrest and prosecution of the leading Yukos executives strongly suggest that they are a clear case of non-conformance with the rule of law and that these executives were — in violation of the principle of equality before the law — arbitrarily singled out by the authorities.”

Feb-05-2005

In meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during her trip to Europe, then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expresses the United States’ concern over the Russian Federation’s actions to seize Yukos’s assets and arrest its leaders in the context of a “crackdown on dissent” in Russia.

Mar-18-2005

A British court denies the extradition of two Yukos employees, Dmitry Maruev and Natalya Chernysheva, concluding that these individuals, like others associated with Yukos, are being prosecuted for political reasons.

Mar-24-2005

Mr. Pichugin is found guilty after his closed-door trial.

Mar-30-2005

Mr. Pichugin is sentenced to twenty years in prison.

Apr-14-2005

New charges for additional “murders” and “attempted murders” from 1998 and 1999 are announced against Mr. Pichugin. The alleged crimes include the murder of Valentina Korneyeva, a tea shop owner; the attempted murder of Russian businessman Evgeny Rybin; the attempted murder of Mr. Rybin’s bodyguards; and the murder of his driver. Again, there is no evidence tying Mr. Pichugin to these crimes.

May-16-2005

The trial against Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev ends with guilty verdicts for both men. They are each sentenced to nine years in prison, though that sentence is later reduced to eight years.

Jul-01-2005

Mr. Nevzlin flies to the United States at the invitation of the U.S. Congress.

Jul-04-2005

Mr. Pichugin is interrogated and a further charge for an additional “murder” from 1998 – the murder of a town mayor, V. Petukhov – is announced against him. Mr. Nevzlin is also charged in this incident, as well as the incidents Mr. Pichugin was charged in on April 14, 2005. Once more, there is no evidence tying Mr. Pichugin (or Mr. Nevzlin) to those crimes. Instead, they depend on layered hearsay that is ultimately recanted.

Jul-05-2005

Russian Deputy Prosecutor General V. Kolesnikov appears on multiple Russian news shows stating both Mr. Pichugin’s and Mr. Nevzlin’s guilt as if it had already been established.

Jul-13-2005

Mr. Nevzlin speaks at a hearing before the United States Congress. The hearing before the Congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe is entitled “The Yukos Affair and its Implications for Politics and Business in Russia.”

Sep-11-2005

Senior Russian Investigator Yuri Burtovoi not only re-states Messrs. Pichugin’s and Nevzlin’s guilt in the Petukhov murder during a televised interview, but also publicizes selected portions of the case file.

Dec-23-2005

A British court denies the extradition of Yukos employee Alexander Temerko, finding that the case against him is politically motivated by a desire to punish Mr. Khodorkovsky. The Court specifically observed that Mr. Pichugin’s rights had been violated in Russia and the Court denied extradition, in part, based on a finding that Mr. Temerko could be similarly abused.

2006

Apr-03-2006

Mr. Pichugin’s second trial begins, this time before a judge and not a jury, a decision forced on him by officials’ having tainted the jury pool with their statements to the press regarding Mr. Pichugin’s guilt.

Apr-06-2006

Yukos General Counsel Vasily Aleksanyan is arrested.

Aug-17-2006

Mr. Pichugin is found guilty of the second set of charges against him. He is sentenced to 21 years in prison, to run concurrently with the sentence handed down in his first trial.

Oct-16-2006

A Lithuanian court denies extradition and grants political asylum to Yukos employee Igor Babenko, agreeing that the evidence supported a conclusion that the prosecutions of Mr. Khodorkovsky and others associated with Yukos represented persecution of a “social group” “not on the causes of a criminal nature, but instigated through the pursuance of the official authority to frustrate political opposition and regain the control over the strategic economical assets.”

2007

Feb-05-2007

New charges of embezzlement and money laundering are brought against Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, who would otherwise have been eligible for parole during 2007. These charges accuse them of “stealing” Yukos’s entire oil production by overseeing the sale of oil between Yukos’s production and refining companies at less than market price. Such “transfer pricing” between related entities in a vertically structured oil company are industry standard.

Feb-21-2007

The Russian Supreme Court reverses Mr. Pichugin’s conviction in the second case against him, finding that the verdict against him was “based on assumptions” and that “exculpatory evidence is used to substantiate a guilty verdict.” At the same time, the court states that Mr. Pichugin’s sentence should be harsher after retrial and subsequent conviction. The court was thus clear what the ultimate result in the case should be.

Apr-17-2007

Mr. Pichugin’s retrial begins on the second set of charges against him, but based on the same evidence found lacking by the Russian Supreme Court. Key prosecution witness Ovsyannikov recants his prior inculpatory statements. He says that he was given the names of Pichugin, Nevzlin and Khodorkovsky and told to falsely implicate them in the crimes or else Ovsyannikov would be charged with being the head of an organized criminal group.

Aug-13-2007

The Swiss Federal Tribunal reverses the Swiss Attorney General’s decision to cooperate with mutual legal assistance treaty requests from Russia in the Khodorkovsky, Nevzlin and Lebedev cases, concluding that the facts “corroborate the suspicion that this criminal proceeding was orchestrated by the powers that be in order to subordinate the class of rich ‘oligarchs’ and do away with potential or sworn political opponents.”

Aug-17-2007

The pre-determined guilty verdict is reached in Mr. Pichugin’s re-trial. Consistent with the order of the Russian Supreme Court that he be sentenced more harshly upon conviction, this time, Mr. Pichugin is sentenced to life in prison.

Aug-21-2007

Mr. Pichugin files his application to the European Court of Human Rights for review of the second case against him.

Aug-31-2007

A Dutch court concludes that Yukos itself was denied a fair trial in the bankruptcy proceedings that lead to the company’s expropriation to state-owned enterprises.

Nov-27-2007

Between November 27th and December 20th, Russian authorities ignore three successive injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights, each ordering that Vasily Aleksanyan be given medical treatment. Authorities hold Mr. Aleksanyan in an attempt to extract incriminating testimony from him about Mr. Khodorkovsky or other Yukos leaders. Mr. Aleksanyan ultimately dies after not receiving medical help in time.

2008

Jan-31-2008

The Russian Supreme Court upholds Mr. Pichugin’s second conviction, even though it is based on the same evidence the court found inadequate in his first appeal in the case.

Mar-19-2008

The Russian Federation begins an in absentia trial of Leonid Nevzlin based on allegations that Mr. Nevzlin instructed Mr. Pichugin to order the crimes for which Mr. Pichugin was convicted. As in Mr. Pichugin’s trials, the case depends on layered hearsay evidence.

Apr-10-2008

A Cypriot court grants political asylum to a former Yukos employee, Vladislav Kartashov, citing PACE’s findings concerning Mr. Pichugin among the evidence that supported its conclusion that Yukos-related charges in Russia are “tainted with political motives” and any extradition would result in a “real risk that [Kartashov’s] right to a fair Trial will be flagrantly violated.”

May-14-2008

In a decision affirming Israel’s refusal to extradite Mr. Nevzlin, the Israeli Supreme Court reviews the “evidence” in the murder and attempted murder cases against Mr. Nevzlin and Mr. Pichugin, concluding there is no ground for extradition because “there was not a single piece of direct evidence linking Nevzlin to involvement in those acts [with which he is charged].”

Aug-01-2008

Mr. Nevzlin’s in absentia trial ends with a guilty verdict. He is sentenced to life in prison.

2009

Mar-30-2009

The second trial against Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev begins. Again, they are kept in metal cages in the courtroom during trial.

Sep-30-2009

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopts a resolution sharply critical of the politicization of the Russian criminal justice system, specifically identifying Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev’s cases as examples.

2010

Sep-12-2010

An international arbitration panel in Stockholm issues its decision in the RosInvestCo UK Ltd. case, concluding that Russia imposed retroactive and never before used interpretations of its tax code in order to expropriate Yukos’s assets.

Dec-30-2010

The second trial of Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev on embezzlement and money laundering charges ends with a guilty verdict for both. They are sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony.

2011

May-24-2011

Amnesty International names Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev “Prisoners of Conscience,” noting that “[f]or several years now these two men have been trapped in a judicial vortex that answers to political not legal considerations.”

2012

Jan-17-2012

The European Court of Human Rights rules that the taking of Yukos, including through the sham auction of Yuganskneftegaz, violated the European Convention of Human Rights. The Court issues a record $2.2 billion award against the Russian Federation, which is never paid.

Jul-20-2012

An international arbitration panel in Stockholm issues its decision in the Quasar de Valores case, finding that the Russian Federation had expropriated Yukos’s assets to state-owned entities.

Aug-10-2012

Mr. Nevzlin’s second in absentia trial begins based on the embezzlement charges returned against him in January 2004.

Oct-23-2012

The European Court of Human Rights deems Mr. Pichugin’s pre-trial detention and his first trial to be unfair and in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. It states that he should be given a new, fair trial.

2013

Jun-24-2013

Mr. Nevzlin’s second in absentia trial ends with a guilty verdict. He is sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. However, in light of his existing life sentence arising from his first in absentia trial, the “final sentence” imposed is life in prison at a maximum security correctional facility.

Jul-25-2013

The European Court of Human rights deems the first trial of Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to have violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

Dec-20-2013

Mr. Khodorkovsky is released from prison by presidential pardon after more than ten years in prison. The pardon follows years of international pressure on Mr. Putin, but appears to be motivated largely by Mr. Putin’s desire to boost his image leading up to the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

2014

Jan-24-2014

Platon Lebedev is released from prison.

Jul-18-2014

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague completes a nine-year investigation into the Yukos Affair, finding that Russia’s actions against Yukos and its shareholders were destructive and unlawful, and involved a “campaign of harassment and intimidation” against “Yukos senior executives, mid-level employees, in-house counsel, external lawyers and related entities.” The tribunal issues a record $50 billion damage award against the Russian Federation in favor of Yukos shareholders. The judgment is on appeal on procedural issues, but its factual findings remain intact.

2015

Mar-05-2015

PACE approves a resolution on the state of the rule of law, observing that its prior resolutions on the subject have not been implemented by the Russian Federation, “notably those regarding the cases of former leading executives of Yukos.”

Nov-27-2015

Mr. Pichugin petitions Russian President Vladimir Putin to pardon him.

Dec-11-2015

After Mr. Khodorkovsky remains active in civil society and Russian politics, and after former Yukos shareholders begin efforts to enforce the July 2014 arbitration judgment, Russian authorities bring new charges against Mr. Khodorkovsky, this time for alleged involvement in the 1998 Petukhov murder for which Mr. Pichugin and Mr. Nevzlin were previously charged. Consequently, Mr. Khodorkovsky seeks and obtains political asylum in Britain based on these charges.

2016

Jun-09-2016

Mr. Pichugin’s attorneys announce that Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied his petition for pardon.

Jul-15-2016

In July, Mr. Pichugin is told that his brother would be subject to arrest if he does not bow to Russian authorities’ demands to testify against Mr. Khodorkovsky. In light of his ongoing refusal to incriminate Yukos leadership, Kremlin operatives raid the homes of both his brother and elderly mother.

Oct-19-2016

In an open letter to Vladimir Putin, Mr. Pichugin’s mother, Alla Nikolaevna Pichugina, petitions the Russian President to pardon her son.

2017

Apr-25-2017

Pierre-Yves Le Borgn’, PACE Rapporteur on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, speaks to PACE during open debate about Mr. Pichugin’s case, stating that Mr. Pichugin’s treatment amounts to “moral torture.”

May-04-2017

Mr. Pichugin files a second petition for pardon while reiterating his innocence.

Jun-06-2017

The ECHR issues its judgment in the second case against Mr. Pichugin, finding that Russian authorities violated the presumption of innocence and further violated his right to present defense evidence.

Jun-21-2017

According to media reports, a specialized commission dismissed Mr. Pichugin’s second request for a presidential pardon.

Jun-29-2017

PACE adopts resolution expressing deep concern about serious structural problems in a number of countries, including Russia, regarding the implementation of ECHR judgments.

Sep-27-2017

Pierre-Yves Le Borgn’, PACE rapporteur on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, again expresses concern over Mr. Pichugin’s situation and the failure of Russian authorities to remedy the Human Rights violations found by the European Court of Human Rights in his case.

Nov-08-2017

The Russian Supreme Court upholds Alexey Pichugin’s sentence to life in prison, refusing a new trial in the face of the ECHR judgment stating he should receive one.

2019

Jan-18-2019

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands rules that the 2006 Russian judgment declaring Yukos Oil bankrupt in the Russian Federation was in violation of principles and values fundamental to Dutch legal order, and will thus not be recognized in the Netherlands. As a key consequence of this ruling, — which upholds an earlier lower courts appeals court decision — “it has been established definitively that the liquidator was not authorised to transfer shares in Yukos Finance to the Russian company OOO Promneftstroy and that Promneftstroy therefore did not become the owner of shares in Yukos Finance.”

Jul-01-2019

Vladimir Kara-Murza, Chairman of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation, addresses the 41st session of the UN Human Rights Council (Geneva, Switzerland) on the issue of political prisoners in the Russian Federation, including the country’s longest-serving political prisoner, Alexey Pichugin

Sep-18-2019

During a side event at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Vladimir Kara-Murza, President of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation, discusses the issue of Russia’s political prisoners, including Alexey Pichugin

2020

Jan-14-2020

In a new judgment, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rules that former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were denied their right to a fair trial when a Russian court tried and convicted them of embezzlement and money laundering. While not finding any “political motives” in the prosecution, the ECHR holds that the defendants’ treatment by the Russian courts constituted violations of three articles of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Jan-28-2020

At the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, France) 43 parliamentarians from 16 European countries support a motion for a resolution on political prisoners in the Russian Federation (Doc. 15049) to appoint an Assembly rapporteur for addressing this issue

Jan-29-2020

During a side event at the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, France), Vladimir Kara-Murza of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation and Sergey Davidis of the Memorial Human Rights Center brief members of PACE on the growing crisis with politically motivated imprisonment in the Russian Federation. They discuss both the overall scope of the issue, and the plight of several individuals, including Alexey Pichugin, Russia’s longest-serving political prisoner

Feb-21-2020

Vladimir Kara-Murza, President of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation, addresses attendees at a side event to the winter meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (Vienna, Austria) on the problem of political prisoners in participating states, including the Russian Federation. Among the cases discussed at the meeting was the case of Alexey Pichugin, Russia’s longest-serving prisoner, who has been incarcerated since 2003

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Timeline

Vladimir Putin becomes President of the Russian Federation.

Mr. Putin gathers Russian business leaders, warning them to keep out of political matters.

Late in 2001, Yukos Chairman Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other core Yukos shareholders found Open Russia, an NGO dedicated to opening up and developing civil society in Russia.

Yukos Chairman Mikhail Khodorkovsky publicly challenges Vladimir Putin over the corruption endemic in his administration.

Mr. Putin forms a special unit within the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office to fabricate evidence against Yukos, its employees and leaders.

From June to October, Mr. Pichugin is repeatedly pressured to provide incriminating testimony against Yukos and Mr. Nevzlin.

Following a search of his apartment and workplace, Alexey Pichugin is arrested and brought to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Lefortovo Prison in Moscow. The FSB is the successor to the USSR’s KGB.

In the summer of 2003, Mr. Khodorkovsky and Yukos Deputy Chairman Leonid Nevzlin provide financial support to the liberal SPS and the social democrat Yabloko parties. Mr. Khodorkovsky becomes active in lobbying against legislation supported by Mr. Putin.

Platon Lebedev, Yukos executive and core shareholder, is arrested from his hospital bed on tax evasion, money laundering and embezzlement charges.

Russian authorities begin a series of commando-style raids on Yukos facilities and the homes of Yukos employees.

During an interrogation at the FSB prison, Mr. Pichugin is injected with psychotropic drugs in an attempt to extract from him incriminating evidence that Mr. Nevzlin ordered him to commit the crimes with which Mr. Pichugin had been charged.

Mr. Khodorkovsky’s plane is boarded by armed commandos who take him at gunpoint on the tarmac at the Novosibirsk Airport in Siberia during a refueling stop. Mr. Khodorkovsky is charged with financial fraud and tax evasion. The charges mirror those against Mr. Lebedev.

The United States Senate adopts a resolution sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Joseph Lieberman concluding that the arrest of Yukos leaders exemplified a selective application of the rule of law for political purposes.

Russian Tax Ministry announces that Yukos owes billions of dollars of additional taxes. The Ministry had previously issued a certificate that Yukos owed no additional taxes. The Ministry took just three weeks to reverse that certificate.

Mr. Nevzlin is formally charged with tax violations based on his use of tax strategies that were well-known and widely used in Russia at the time.

Mr. Nevzlin publicly endorses Irina Khakamada, the opposition candidate for the presidential election, and her “Free Russia” party.

Mr. Nevzlin’s indictment is expanded to include allegations of alleged fraud based on a 1998 stock swap transaction between Yukos and a related entity.

A motion to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (“PACE”) to appoint a Rapporteur to investigate the Yukos cases highlights the politically motivated nature of Russia’s activities against Mr. Khodorkovsky, Mr. Nevzlin, and Yukos (including Mr. Pichugin).

The Russian Tax Ministry announces billions more in tax assessments against Yukos.

A Russian court grants the Tax Ministry’s request to freeze Yukos’s assets, making it impossible for the company to pay any tax assessments.

Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev’s trial begins, with both defendants confined to a metal cage in the courtroom during proceedings.

Mr. Nevzlin is charged with being responsible for the same murders and attempted murders with which Mr. Pichugin is charged. Again, there is no actual evidence linking either man to the underlying crimes.

Mr. Pichugin’s first trial begins on the June 2003 indictment against him. The proceedings are closed to the public on the pretext that evidence of the dated street crimes with which he is charged reveal Russian “state secrets.”

The PACE Rapporteur releases a report of her findings concerning the Yukos case, discussing Mr. Pichugin’s interrogation with psychotropic drugs, that he is held in a prison under the control of the Russian FSB rather than the Ministry of Justice and that his trial is being conducted in secret.

The judge in Mr. Pichugin’s criminal case discharges the jury, which had appeared sympathetic to him.

As a result of the retroactive tax assessments against Yukos, Yukos’s prime asset, the production company Yuganskneftegaz, is sold off at a state-run auction.

Mr. Pichugin’s trial is restarted with a new jury.

Mr. Pichugin is found guilty after his closed-door trial.

Mr. Pichugin is sentenced to twenty years in prison.

A British court denies the extradition of two Yukos employees, Dmitry Maruev and Natalya Chernysheva, concluding that these individuals, like others associated with Yukos, are being prosecuted for political reasons.

The trial against Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev ends with guilty verdicts for both men. They are each sentenced to nine years in prison, though that sentence is later reduced to eight years.

Mr. Nevzlin flies to the United States at the invitation of the U.S. Congress.

Mr. Nevzlin speaks at a hearing before the United States Congress. The hearing before the Congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe is entitled “The Yukos Affair and its Implications for Politics and Business in Russia.”

Russian Deputy Prosecutor General V. Kolesnikov appears on multiple Russian news shows stating both Mr. Pichugin’s and Mr. Nevzlin’s guilt as if it had already been established.

Senior Russian Investigator Yuri Burtovoi not only re-states Messrs. Pichugin’s and Nevzlin’s guilt in the Petukhov murder during a televised interview, but also publicizes selected portions of the case file.

Mr. Pichugin’s second trial begins, this time before a judge and not a jury, a decision forced on him by officials’ having tainted the jury pool with their statements to the press regarding Mr. Pichugin’s guilt.

Yukos General Counsel Vasily Aleksanyan is arrested.

Mr. Pichugin is found guilty of the second set of charges against him. He is sentenced to 21 years in prison, to run concurrently with the sentence handed down in his first trial.

The pre-determined guilty verdict is reached in Mr. Pichugin’s re-trial. Consistent with the order of the Russian Supreme Court that he be sentenced more harshly upon conviction, this time, Mr. Pichugin is sentenced to life in prison.

Mr. Pichugin files his application to the European Court of Human Rights for review of the second case against him.

A Dutch court concludes that Yukos itself was denied a fair trial in the bankruptcy proceedings that lead to the company’s expropriation to state-owned enterprises.

The Russian Supreme Court upholds Mr. Pichugin’s second conviction, even though it is based on the same evidence the court found inadequate in his first appeal in the case.

The Russian Federation begins an in absentia trial of Leonid Nevzlin based on allegations that Mr. Nevzlin instructed Mr. Pichugin to order the crimes for which Mr. Pichugin was convicted. As in Mr. Pichugin’s trials, the case depends on layered hearsay evidence.

Mr. Nevzlin’s in absentia trial ends with a guilty verdict. He is sentenced to life in prison.

The second trial against Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev begins. Again, they are kept in metal cages in the courtroom during trial.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopts a resolution sharply critical of the politicization of the Russian criminal justice system, specifically identifying Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev’s cases as examples.

An international arbitration panel in Stockholm issues its decision in the RosInvestCo UK Ltd. case, concluding that Russia imposed retroactive and never before used interpretations of its tax code in order to expropriate Yukos’s assets.

The second trial of Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev on embezzlement and money laundering charges ends with a guilty verdict for both. They are sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony.

Amnesty International names Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev “Prisoners of Conscience,” noting that “[f]or several years now these two men have been trapped in a judicial vortex that answers to political not legal considerations.”

The European Court of Human Rights rules that the taking of Yukos, including through the sham auction of Yuganskneftegaz, violated the European Convention of Human Rights. The Court issues a record $2.2 billion award against the Russian Federation, which is never paid.

An international arbitration panel in Stockholm issues its decision in the Quasar de Valores case, finding that the Russian Federation had expropriated Yukos’s assets to state-owned entities.

Mr. Nevzlin’s second in absentia trial begins based on the embezzlement charges returned against him in January 2004.

The European Court of Human Rights deems Mr. Pichugin’s pre-trial detention and his first trial to be unfair and in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. It states that he should be given a new, fair trial.

The European Court of Human rights deems the first trial of Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to have violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

Platon Lebedev is released from prison.

PACE approves a resolution on the state of the rule of law, observing that its prior resolutions on the subject have not been implemented by the Russian Federation, “notably those regarding the cases of former leading executives of Yukos.”

Mr. Pichugin petitions Russian President Vladimir Putin to pardon him.

Mr. Pichugin’s attorneys announce that Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied his petition for pardon.

In an open letter to Vladimir Putin, Mr. Pichugin’s mother, Alla Nikolaevna Pichugina, petitions the Russian President to pardon her son.

Pierre-Yves Le Borgn’, PACE Rapporteur on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, speaks to PACE during open debate about Mr. Pichugin’s case, stating that Mr. Pichugin’s treatment amounts to “moral torture.”

Mr. Pichugin files a second petition for pardon while reiterating his innocence.

The ECHR issues its judgment in the second case against Mr. Pichugin, finding that Russian authorities violated the presumption of innocence and further violated his right to present defense evidence.

PACE adopts resolution expressing deep concern about serious structural problems in a number of countries, including Russia, regarding the implementation of ECHR judgments.

According to media reports, a specialized commission dismissed Mr. Pichugin’s second request for a presidential pardon.

The Russian Supreme Court upholds Alexey Pichugin’s sentence to life in prison, refusing a new trial in the face of the ECHR judgment stating he should receive one.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, Chairman of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation, addresses the 41st session of the UN Human Rights Council (Geneva, Switzerland) on the issue of political prisoners in the Russian Federation, including the country’s longest-serving political prisoner, Alexey Pichugin

During a side event at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Vladimir Kara-Murza, President of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation, discusses the issue of Russia’s political prisoners, including Alexey Pichugin

Click on the text under the date to learn more.

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