The Moscow City Court sentenced Pichugin to 20 years in prison after a jury found him guilty on counts of double murder and attempted murder. The Supreme Court upheld the sentence.
Pichugin's defense team last month also sent a complaint against the Russian judiciary to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, stating that Russia's Supreme Court and the Moscow City Court had violated their client's right to a fair trial, as guaranteed by Article 6 of the European Human Rights Convention.
The Strasbourg court has no power to overturn national courts' rulings, but it may recognize cases of human rights abuse.
Pichugin's case came as part of a slew of actions against embattled oil company Yukos, which was also hit by the convictions of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev on fraud and tax evasion charges, and by the forced sale of key oil unit Yuganskneftegaz and other assets to settle huge back tax bills.
