March 22, 2005, 20:15 Society

Pichugin disowned the Gorins

Grigory Smirnov Yukos security officer Alexey Pichugin, accused of murder, stated in the Moscow City Court that he had no relationship with Leonid Nevzlin and was not involved in the crimes charged against him. The jury is expected to render its verdict this week.

security officer The Moscow City Court has completed its consideration of evidence in the case of Yukos Alexei Pichugin. spoke before the jury On Tuesday, Alexey Pichugin , who all this time refused to testify, citing Article 51 of the Russian Constitution.

The defendant stated that he was not guilty of the crimes charged against him.

The Prosecutor General's Office accuses Pichugin of organizing attempts on the life of Mikhail Khodorkovsky's former adviser Olga Kostina, former head of the affairs department of Rosprom CJSC Viktor Kolesov disappeared without a trace , as well as organizing a double murder - in 2002, Tambov residents Olga and Sergei Gorin , with whom Pichugin was in a relationship, friendly relations. The prosecutor's office suspects that Alexey Pichugin organized the crimes at the request of one of the largest shareholders of YUKOS, Leonid Nevzlin - they allegedly interfered with the activities of the oil company. At the same time, in the indictment materials, the person who ordered the crimes appears as an “unidentified person.” The investigation also considers the direct perpetrators of this crime to be “unidentified persons.” But the bodies of the Gorins have not yet been found.

As sources close to the participants in the trial told Gazeta.Ru, speaking about the episode with the Gorins, Pichugin said that he had “warm friendly relations” with this family. He noted that he was worried about the fate of the missing spouses and was searching for them.

Pichugin also said that he is the godfather of the Gorins’ son.

Commenting on the accusations of organizing two assassination attempts on Olga Kostina and Viktor Kolesov, committed in the fall of 1998, Pichugin said that their names became known to him only from the indictment.

Regarding Leonid Nevzlin, Alexey Pichugin said that there was no relationship between them, “since Leonid Nevzlin is a major shareholder, and I am just an employee.”

In addition to Pichugin, according to Gazeta.Ru, on Tuesday Ekaterina Rozhkova was again interrogated , claiming that at Nevzlin’s request she brought him Kostina’s personal file .

Investigators decided to call her again because defense witnesses contradicted her testimony at previous hearings.

Rozhkova confirmed the earlier testimony. According to her, in 1998 she gave Leonid Nevzlin photographs and the personal file of Olga Kostina. And then Nevzlin, according to investigators, handed them over to Pichugin to organize the murder of Kostina.

In response, the lawyers presented Rozhkova’s testimony given during the preliminary investigation, which contradicted her current testimony, and proposed a confrontation with defense witnesses so that the jury could decide for themselves who was right.

According to a source from Gazeta.Ru, Ekaterina Rozhkova “simply physically” could not take Kostina’s case on behalf of Nevzlin in 1998. The secretary worked for the largest shareholder of YUKOS only until 1995 - this was stated by defense witnesses. However, Judge Natalya Olikhver refused to allow the lawyers to conduct a confrontation.

After the testimony of Alexey Pichugin and the interrogation of Ekaterina Rozhkova, the court scheduled a debate between the parties, which will take place on Wednesday, March 23. Judge Natalya Olikhver, presiding over the trial, refused to give Alexey Pichugin's lawyers time to prepare for the debate. It is expected that Kamil Kashaev, a representative of the Prosecutor General's Office, will be the first to speak in court tomorrow. The defense will then speak.

At the same time, Olikhver forbade lawyers from analyzing the speech of state prosecutors in front of the jury. Lawyers say the ban will prevent defense attorneys from showing jurors obvious inconsistencies in investigators' positions.

After arguments between the parties, the court will set a date for the jury's verdict. The jury will have to determine whether it was possible to prove the guilt of Alexey Pichugin and the second accused Alexey Peshkun. If the answer is yes, the jury will answer the question of whether the defendants deserve leniency. The verdict is expected this week.