MOSCOW, January 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Supreme Court upheld on Tuesday a life sentence for former Yukos shareholder Leonid Nevzlin, sentenced to life in absentia for murder and attempted murder.
Nevzlin has also been ordered to pay more than 5.5 million rubles ($235,000) in compensation to the victims and their families.
His spokeswoman said the ruling will mean the defense can appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
"The appeal was only submitted for procedural reasons, so we can now finally turn to the International Human Rights Court and file a complaint against this staged trial," Irina Dolgina said.
Nevzlin was a close adviser to Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is currently serving a prison term for tax evasion and fraud in East Siberia. Khodorkovsky said his imprisonment in 2005 was punishment for his political ambitions and part of the Kremlin's drive to regain control of lucrative energy assets.
Investigators say that between 1998 and 2002, members of an organized criminal group led by Nevzlin murdered, among others, the mayor of Nefteyugansk, where Yukos's main production unit was based, and businesswoman Valentina Korneyeva, who stood in the way of the oil giant's interests.
Nevzlin, who fled to Israel in 2003 and subsequently obtained Israeli citizenship, has repeatedly denied the charges, saying they are politically motivated.
"Courts throughout the Western world, including the Supreme Court in Switzerland, have determined point-blank that this is a case of political persecution," Dolgina said.
Russia has repeatedly demanded the convict's extradition from Israel, but requests were denied by Israel, which demanded more evidence of Nevzlin's guilt.
"As opposed to the Russian court, the Kremlin's executive, the Israeli advocacy and Supreme Court have rejected all the Russian government's claims," the spokeswoman said.
State Prosecutor Alexander Koblyakov also said Nevzlin could serve the sentence in Israel.
Once Russia's largest oil producer, Yukos collapsed after charges of tax evasion led to the company being broken up and sold off to meet debts. The bulk of the company's assets were bought up by state-run oil company Rosneft.
