MOSCOW, July 21 (RAPSI) – A specialized commission has dismissed a petition for pardon filed by ex-Yukos security chief Alexey Pichugin sentenced to life in prison, RIA Novosti reported Friday.

Pichugin’s lawyer Kseniya Kostromina told RAPSI that she had no official confirmation of the pardon denial.

In the summer of 2016, Pichugin lost another application for pardon. “Alexey Pichugin has lodged a petition for pardon as this was the only legal chance for his release. He has already been refused,” Kostromina said earlier.

Two criminal cases have been opened against ex-Yukos security chief in Russia on charges of organizing murders and attempted assassinations. In 2005, he received 20 years in prison in the first case. In 2007, he was sentenced to life in prison in the second case.

In June, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has awarded over €15,000 in compensation including costs and expenses to Pichugin. He has complained over alleged breach of presumption of innocence and assessment of evidence by Russian courts in the second case against him.

That was the second application Pichugin filed with the ECHR. In October 2012, the Strasbourg Court held that Russia’s authorities had violated his rights to a fair trial (Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights) and awarded €9,500 to the applicant.