Vera Vasilyeva
The www.hro.org human rights website, 3 October 2007
The confrontation between the individual and an oppressive state in any historical period has always stirred interest, as much for its human as its legal aspects. Today we witness with increasing frequency a return to the most repulsive features of Russia’s totalitarian past, including politically motivated trials.
One such case is that of Alexei Pichugin, who worked for Yukos. Our website has given full coverage to his trial. The RF Supreme Court will soon examine the appeal lodged by the defendant and his lawyers against his sentence to life imprisonment on 6 August 2007. I decided to look at all that has happened from a different angle and met with Alexei’s mother, Alla Nikolayevna. How had she and her son survived the last four and a half years of court hearings, I asked. What did they expect of the immediate future.
When did you last see your son?
I saw him on 19 September at the ‘Matrosskaya tishina’ pre-trial detention centre [in Moscow].
What impression did you get of his condition? How is he feeling? Did you talk about the forthcoming review of his case by the Supreme Court?
Alexei does not hold out great hopes of that review. ‘Mama, don’t put your faith in it and don’t nourish any illusions,’ he told me. Alexei knows very well that his appeal will not be upheld although no proof of his guilt was ever provided, nor has it since appeared.
What did he tell you after the verdict was announced on 6 August?
He said: ‘Mama, take good care of yourself. I’m quite okay, don’t worry about me.’
So Alexei gives you even more moral support than you give him?
Yes, in every letter he writes: ‘Mama, take good care of yourself. I need you and love you very much.’
What are your impressions of the trial? You attended every hearing, didn’t you?
Barefaced lies. I could see that people were lying. Most important, however, is that I know my son is honest, with himself and with others. So, in spite of everything, I believe that justice will be done.
What can you say about the first trial, concerning the Gorins? The hearings were closed to the public and no one was allowed into the courtroom apart from the participants. Despite that, you travelled into Moscow to be at the city court every day.
Yes, I would open the courtroom door just a little to take a peek at what was going on – and they slammed it immediately in my face. Nevertheless, all through the trial I sat outside the door. Judge Olikhver shouted so loudly that you could hear her: she didn’t give the defence lawyers a chance to speak.
What do you think of the media coverage of the trial?
I think your website gave good coverage of the second trial because you were there in the courtroom. Other media sources either didn’t attend the trial or invented much of what they wrote. There wasn’t much truth in their publications. In order to give a fair account, you had to be there every day. They wrote what the prosecutor’s office told them.
Does Alexei take an interest in what’s happening in Russia and in the world? Does he read newspapers or watch the television?
He subscribes to Kommersant and Novaya gazeta. He looks at the TV but as his relatives we advise him not to watch so often. It’s not worth looking at Channel One, in particular.
But during visits, of course, we mainly speak about the children. They are growing up without him and that’s painful. Especially since they’re boys – they need their father, particularly his second son.
How old are they?
The middle one, Sasha, is fifteen. He’s at college. It’s the most difficult age and you have to watch out for him all the time. Andrei, the eldest, is twenty one and is already working. The youngest, Seryozha, is ten today.
And they also go with you to see their father?
Andrei and Sasha go. And all three write letters. We haven’t told the youngest where his father is: we say he’s gone to work somewhere far away. We’re afraid he’d be traumatised but I think he understands everything – Seryozha’s a very smart boy. Probably he just can’t bring himself to ask us.
Is Alexei a good father and son?
He’s wonderful. He used to ring me every day, morning and evening, and ask how I was. And he’s a wonderful father. There are very few people like that. It’s so painful – why should all this have happened? Why are criminals free and a decent man like Alexei behind bars for the fifth year?
How did you spend your free time as a family?
We always celebrated family occasions together. My younger son Andrei would play the guitar and we sang. Alexei has a lovely voice. We’d dance. But we haven’t sung or danced for five years now. We’ve no desire.
Why did Alexei choose a career in military counter-intelligence?
From childhood my son dreamt of becoming a soldier. He graduated from the officers college in Novosibirsk and then he was invited to attend the KGB school there. In former times the best people were invited to join the school; it was considered a great honour. He accepted and enjoyed his studies. After graduating he started work in Novosibirsk. Alexei served without a blot on his reputation. He earned countless awards! He gave all he had to his service of the Motherland.
Was that reflected at the trial?
When Judge Shtunder asked about Alexei’s reputation Prosecutor Kashayev could not find the formal record, and said it was somewhere in the documentation of the first case. Then at a later hearing he found the details but only said: ‘It’s a positive record.’ And that was it, he could say nothing more. You know what the sentence was.
So why did Alexei join Menatep?
The war had started [1994] in Chechnya. My son did not want to take part and resigned his commission. As a valued specialist he began to receive a great many job offers. Why did he pick Yukos? Because all the people there were decent, good, clever people.
Does Alexei write to you often?
Once a week, every Sunday.
What does he say in his letters?
He tells me to take care of myself, to keep my spirits up. He always believes that everything will come right and good will defeat evil.
People say that those involved in the Yukos case enjoy special conditions in jail, that they even have Jacuzzis and plasma TVs in their cells. Does Alexei have any privileges compared to others in the detention centre? What are his living conditions?
The same as everyone else.
And you take him food parcels, like the other detainees’ relatives, and stand in line with them to hand over your parcel or see your son?
Of course. Two hour-long visits are permitted each month. Some are allowed an hour and a half. Even if there are three of us, two grown-ups and a child, they have never given us more than an hour. But we all want to talk to him, both the children and I. Mainly I talk about practical matters: what I should bring him, what he needs, which medicines or clothes. The children want to tell him their news, what’s been happening to them.
How have the people around you reacted? Do they offer their support or keep their distance? Are some hostile or indifferent?
No one has stopped talking to us because they all know what kind of person Alexei is and understand that he is incapable of committing a crime. He’s a very kind-hearted, decent man.
How did Alexei’s friends react to the accusations?
They all understand he’s innocent. Certain of them, of course, were afraid to keep openly in touch. Perhaps the prosecutor’s office threatened them. Even so they still ring up.
Forgive me for recalling unpleasant memories but tell us how it all happened? How did you learn that Alexei had been taken away?
It was 19 June 2003. My son did not ring me, as usual, that morning. I started ringing him but no one answered. Immediately I understood that something had happened. Then my son’s friend phoned me (God bless him, he’s no longer with us) and said that Alexei had been called to the prosecutor’s office as a witness. You can imagine what a state I was in. It’s painful even to remember. For several days he was detained without a court warrant. It was only on the 21 or 22 June that such a warrant was issued. Until then there were no official documents and he was not even allowed to see a lawyer.
He couldn’t see his lawyers?!
No. His apartment was searched and he was not allowed to see his lawyers. There were numerous violations, but I don’t need to tell you that. Every day since he was arrested I have kept a record, I’ve started to write down everything. When I visit him, when anything happens, each day I write it down.
Tell me about the time psychotropic substances were used during his ‘interrogation’ at the Lefortovo pre-trial detention centre in 2003. How did you learn about that? What was Alexei’s condition when you came to visit him?
I saw him the day after, on 15 July, and I could tell he was not himself.
You saw traces of the injections?
I did.
What had they used?
I immediately informed his lawyers and they went to see him straightaway and demanded that Alexei be given a medical examination. But there was no examination.
What do you think, why have they gone to such lengths with Alexei? Why such a harsh sentence when the evidence for his involvement is so obviously weak? What do they want from him?
They want Alexei to incriminate the Yukos management. But he’s a decent man, so how could he bear false witness against others?
Where does Alexei get his strength? What gives him hope?
I think he’s simply a profoundly decent person. He believes in the power of good and that these lies cannot go on for ever.
Are you also convinced that everything will turn out well?
Yes, I believe that good will triumph. Very much so. I consider that this lawless behaviour cannot continue for long. That’s what keeps me going.