MOSCOW, December 23. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin has no relation to the new charges , this does not contradict the decision to pardon businessman. This was reported by press Secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov.
“The decision to pardon, upon the appeal of the convict is made by the head of state, but the decision about the investigation or declared in the international search or that the head of state does not accept”, – told reporters Sands. – Accept that the investigating authorities”.
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Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested in absentia and declared in the international search
Answering the question, is not contrary to the pardoning of Khodorkovsky’s still a criminal case on new charges and the announcement of the businessman in the investigation, Peskov said: “No, no (contradiction between these decisions)”.
Earlier it was reported that the former head of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, arrested in absentia in a case concerning killings and declared in the international search. Earlier against the ex-Yukos CEO was made the decision about attraction as accused “of murder and attempted murder of two and more persons”.
According to the investigation, “Khodorkovsky, as a shareholder and Chairman of the Board of YUKOS oil company in 1998-1999 instructed subordinate employees of the company Leonid Nevzlin and Alexey Pichugin and others the murder of mayor of Nefteyugansk Vladimir Petukhov and entrepreneur Evgeny Rybin, whose official activity was contrary to the interests of Yukos”.
The third case
It already the third criminal case, where Khodorkovsky is held by the accused.
In may 2005, he, along with former head “Menatep” Platon Lebedev has been sentenced by petty-Bourgeois court of Moscow to 9 years imprisonment for fraud and tax evasion.
Subsequently the Moscow city court has lowered term of punishment till 8 years.
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The Yukos Affair. Dossier
In the second case on 30 December 2010 Khamovnichesky Moscow court found them guilty also under articles “theft” and “legalization of funds obtained by criminal means” and prescribed 14 years of imprisonment. Later the Presidium of the Moscow city court reduced the sentence to 11 years.
In the end, Lebedev was to be released in may 2014 and Khodorkovsky in August 2014. But in December 2013, Khodorkovsky was pardoned by Russian President and December 20, 2013 was released from prison.
In January the Supreme court reduced the sentence and Platon Lebedev to 10.5 years, i.e. until the actually served period of punishment, and he too was released.
The resumption of the investigation
Meanwhile, on June 30 of this year the Investigative Committee of Russia announced the resumption of a criminal investigation of the murder of Nefteyugansk mayor Vladimir Petukhov in 1998 in connection with the appeared information that “the role of the customer of murder and other particularly serious crimes could be directly the head of Yukos Michael Khodorkovsky”.
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The Kremlin: at the time of the pardon Khodorkovsky’s suspicions in his address on the new case was not
December 11, Khodorkovsky did not come to interrogation to the investigator, was in absentia charged with organizing two murders.
Vladimir Petukhov was murdered on 26 June 1998, when I went to work. The death of the mayor was preceded by a conflict with a township-forming enterprise of YUKOS. The mayor has accused the company that it does not pay taxes to the local budget, which the city started the irregular payment of wages and public services. In June 1998, the mayor announced a hunger strike, demanding to initiate criminal proceedings against Yukos executives. The Petukhov stopped hunger strike after the promises of the Governor of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug Alexander Filipenko to verify the information and to take action. A few days later, Petukhov was shot from the machine gun near the building of city administration. The murder occurred on the day of Khodorkovsky’s birthday.
For murder of the first elected mayor of Nefteyugansk was previously convicted ex-head of security service of Yukos Alexey Pitchugin.
Speaking earlier at an online press conference in Switzerland Khodorkovsky said he did not admit his involvement in the murder of Petukhov.
