however, the conviction was quashed by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the ground that the evidence was insufficient. That court ordered that, after re-trial, Pichugin should be given a harsher sentence, confirming the result of the case in advance. The retrial was completed on August 6, 2007. It relied on the same evidence previously found insufficient, but Pichugin was nonetheless convicted. This time, he was sentenced to life in prison. European Court proceedings On October 23, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights found that Pichugin's trials in his first case violated his human rights, a decision that became final on March 18, 2013. The European Court found violations of article 5 paragraph 1 of European Convention on Human Rights based on unreasonable delay following Pichugin's arrest, during which he was held in an FSB detention facility and interrogated. The European Court further found violation of article 6 paragraph 1 of the convention, based on the secrecy of both the trial and Pichugin's domestic appeal, which were each conducted in secret without access by the public or media. Critically, the European Court also found that the trial court's truncation of cross-examination of the government's key “confessor” witness violated article 6 paragraphs 1 and 3 of the convention, requiring a new trial. Concerning Pichugin's second case, on June 6, 2017, the European Court found that the trials of that case also violated Pichugin's human rights. The court specifically found that Russian authorities had violated the presumption of innocence and determined that “the way the domestic courts assessed and admitted the evidence in [Pichugin’s] case” violated the convention's provision for “equality of arms” in criminal cases. As noted above, the Russian authorities have refused to abide by the European Court judgments. Recognition as political prisoner Pichugin has been recognized as a political prisoner by the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and, during the February 2018 Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, hosted by UN Watch, he was among the prisoners of conscience recognized. Private life Married at the time of his arrest in 2003, Pichugin has three sons. The youngest, Sergey, was born in 1998. His wife spent several years publicly defending her husband's innocence. They are now separated. References External links Alexey Pichugin Case Lenta.ru Rian.ru Living people 1962 births Yukos Inmates of Black Dolphin Prison Inmates of Lefortovo Prison Political prisoners according to Memorial