No Reason to Celebrate – June 19, 2018 Marks 15th Anniversary of Alexey Pichugin’s Arrest

As Moscow basks in the international limelight as the world celebrates the most-watched sporting event in the 21st Century hosted in Russia this year, it is easily overlooked that today marks the 15th anniversary of Alexey Pichugin’s arrest.

The first victim of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s extensive campaign to expropriate and Yukos and destroy the company’s leadership, Mr. Pichugin – who was a manager within the security department of the company – was arrested On June 19, 2003 following a search of his apartment and workplace. He was brought to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Lefortovo Prison in Moscow. This was the first arrest in what has become known as the Yukos Case, and marked the beginning of Mr. Pichugin’s personal ordeal at the hands of the Russian regime that has earned him the dubious honor of being the country’s longest serving political prisoner.

While not expressly singling out Mr. Pichugin’s case in the official statements, the U.S. State Department has just called on Russia to “release all those identified as political or religious prisoners immediately and cease its use of the legal system to suppress dissident and peaceful religious practice.”

With all eyes on Moscow these days, the international community should step up its pressure on the Russian regime to free Mr. Pichugin and other wrongfully incarcerated political prisoners, the list of which has grown long. As U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement:

“The Russian people, like people everywhere, deserve equal treatment under the law and the ability to exercise their rights without fear of retribution.”

To learn how Mr. Pichugin became the pawn in President Putin’s personal vendetta against Yukos and the company’s leadership, read more here.

And for a timeline of events in Mr. Pichugin’s ordeal, click here.