MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's Investigative Committee may seek a court order to arrest former head of the now-defunct Russian energy company Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, in absentia, should he ignore its request to question him on December 11, a law enforcement source said on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Khodorkovsky, who is now residing in Europe, said via Twitter that he had been called in for questioning by Russia's Investigative Committee on December 11. He has been reportedly summoned for questioning in the case of Alexei Pichugin, former head of Yukos' department of internal economic security, who was given a life sentence for organizing murders and attempted murders.
According to the source, a court decision is required in order for the Russian authorities to pursue extradition procedures.
In June, the Russian Investigative Committee said that the former Yukos head might have hired a hitman to murder the mayor of the Siberian town Nefteyugansk, Vladimir Petukhov, in 1998. Pichugin was convicted of planning the mayor's murder, as well as the attempted assassination of a Khodorkovsky's adviser the same year.
The investigators have said that they are ready to question anyone suspected of involvement in this alleged crime.
In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to pardon Khodorkovsky, who had served ten years in prison for a range of economic crimes. Shortly after, Khodorkovsky was released and flown by private plane to Berlin.
