Yesterday, at the trial of former YUKOS co-owner Leonid Nevzlin, who is being tried in absentia in Moscow, state prosecutor Alexander Kublyakov demanded a life sentence. The prosecutor considers Nevzlin's guilt in organizing three murders, four attempted murders and a robbery proven: one of the attempts failed, the victim got off with beatings and a stolen briefcase.

Earlier, Yukos security officer Alexei Pichugin was found guilty of committing these crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment. The prosecution insists that Nevzlin ordered and financed the crimes.

One piece of evidence is that in each case the death was beneficial to the YUKOS management, the state prosecutor said. For example, after the murder of Nefteyugansk Mayor Vladimir Petukhov, who was seeking payment of a debt to the budget from the company, the claims against YUKOS were dropped.

Nevzlin's involvement, according to the prosecution, is confirmed by the testimony of the direct perpetrators of the crimes. However, they themselves did not communicate with Nevzlin, but heard about him from those who ordered it. It is impossible to interrogate them - they are already dead. "But the fact of the death of the source of information does not exclude the fact of the information itself," said Kublyakov. The prosecution considers the testimony of three already convicted perpetrators to be direct evidence. Before receiving their next assignment, they saw Pichugin and Nevzlin. Two of them stated in court that this testimony was fiction and the result of a deal concluded with representatives of the prosecutor's office. But the state prosecutor proposed to evaluate the testimony of witnesses "in conjunction with other evidence in this case." The prosecutor also asked the court not to accept as evidence the decision of the High Court of Justice of Israel, which upheld the refusal to extradite Nevzlin. What the prosecutor's office will do with a life sentence that cannot be executed, the representative of the state prosecution prefers not to discuss, but believes that a guilty verdict will allow them to seek extradition again.

Nevzlin's lawyer Dmitry Kharitonov insists: his client's guilt has not been proven. The defense will have the floor today.

In absentia, but for life