After ECHR judgment Pichugin's verdict must be overturned - defense
MOSCOW. June 6 (Interfax) - The defense team for a former security staff member in the Yukos oil company, Alexei Pichugin, said that his second verdict, life in prison, must be reviewed in light of the judgment made by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
"This decision is final, and it cannot be appealed at the [ECHR] Grand Chamber. In accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code, the Supreme Court presidium must consider whether or not they will review the judgment which was made in the case and has taken effect," Pichugin's lawyer Kseniya Kostromina told Interfax.
The second verdict against Pichugin must be overturned in view of the ECHR judgment, Kostromina said.
"From the common sense perspective: if the European court found that the right to fair trial was violated during the proceedings, then how this right that was violated could be restored? By overturning the judgment issued as the result of this unfair trial and retrying the case," Kostromina said, adding that there are no procedural deadlines in this situation.
The lawyer could not say when the appeal will be filed to the Supreme Court presidium.
"I'll be meeting with Alexei Vladimirovich [Pichugin] in prison very soon, and we will discuss all these matters," Kostromina said.
It was reported that on Tuesday a three-judge committee in the ECHR ordered payment to Pichugin of over 15,000 euro in compensation for violation of his right to the fair trial (Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms), which ended in a second, life-imprisonment verdict.