Former Yukos executive sentenced to 20 years for murder

(30 Mar 2005) SHOTLIST March 30, 2005 1. Exterior of Moscow City Court 2. Gates, justice symbols on metal plaque 3. Various of people leaving courtroom 4. Cutaway of media 5. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Georgy Kaganer, Lawyer for Alexei Pichugin: ''We do not agree with the court's decision and we will appeal against it. In the materials of the case, there is no proof that he took part in the crimes he is accused of and for which he received his 20 year sentence." 6. Family members gathered 7. Cutaway of television photographers 8. Family members leave 9. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Georgy Kaganer, Lawyer for Alexei Pichugin: ''He (Alexei Pichugin) says that this is a political order and is connected to Yukos. In his opinion, he is being pressured into giving evidence against (Yukos') leaders, he has always said that." 10. Various of Pichugin trial website 11. Press conference with Kamil Kashayev, State Prosecutor in Pichugin trial 12. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Kamil Kashayev, State Prosecutor in Pichugin trial: ''What kind of politics are we talking about if there are explosions and murders? I mean, there are dead bodies. What kind of politics are we talking about if there are several dead bodies Pichugin is responsible for?" March 28, 2005 13. Former CEO of Russian oil giant Yukos Mikhail Khodorkovsky (left) and his partner Platon Lebedev (right) in Meshchansky Court 14. Former CEO of Russian oil giant Yukos Mikhail Khodorkovsky March 30, 2005 15. Set up shot Ludmila Alexeyeva, Chairman of Moscow Helsinki Group 16. SOUNDBITE (English) Ludmila Alexeyeva, Chairperson of Moscow Helsinki Group: ''The main aim of this trial is Mr Khodorkovsky and not Mr Pichugin. Such a terrible sentence shows that this aim they will reach by any possibilities." March 28, 2005 17. Various Mikhail Khodrokovsky and Platon Lebedev in Meshchansky Court STORYLINE A former executive of the beleaguered Russian oil giant Yukos on Wednesday was sentenced to 20 years in jail for murder, as the trial of company founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky drew to a close. A Moscow City Court jury found Alexei Pichugin, a former top Yukos security officer, guilty of organising a double murder in 2002 as well as an attack on the head of the Moscow mayor's communication service. Prosecutors had originally requested that Pichugin be given a life sentence. The defendant and his legal team dismissed the charges as part of a Kremlin-instigated crackdown on Yukos and argued that the closed trial had been rife with violations. According to the defence lawyer, Pichugin viewed the trial as an attempt to pressurise him into giving evidence against Yukos' owners. Human rights activists echoed this view. In the words of Moscow Helsinki Group chairwoman Ludmila Alexeyeva, Pichugin's trial was not about him, but about his superiors, namely Khodorkovsky and Leonid Nevzlin. Nevzlin is a core Yukos shareholder who has been charged with ordering the killings and attempted assassinations. He now lives in Israel. Khodorkovsky has been in jail since October 2003, facing trial on fraud and tax-evasion charges. On Tuesday, prosecutors demanded the maximum 10 year sentence for Khodorkovsky and his co-defendant Platon Lebedev, another major shareholder in Yukos. Yukos' founder Khodorkovsky has been in jail facing trial on fraud and tax-evasion charges and the company has been dismantled and partly renationalised to pay off a staggering 28 (b) billion US dollars tax bill. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...