JURIST - Paper Chase: Russia demands extradition of former Yukos executive

[JURIST] Russia has demanded the extradition from the United States of Leonid Nevzlin [2003 Forbes profile], a former Yukos [JURIST news archive] executive and majority shareholder accused of ordering murders. Nevzlin now lives in exile in Israel, but was in the US Wednesday to address the Helsinki Commission [official website] to discuss how the scandal and eventual conviction of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has affected business and politics in Russia. Russian officials objected to the meeting [RIA Novosti report] and requested he be extradited [RIA Novosti report]. Nevzlin fled to Israel and was granted citizenship shortly before Khodorkovsky was arrested. Israel has previously said there wasn't enough evidence for them to allow extradition. Reuters has more.

In a related development, the Russian Supreme Court Thursday approved a 20-year sentence [AP report] handed down to former Yukos executive Alexei Pichugin for his roles in organizing murders. His lawyers said they planned to appeal [RIA Novosti report] to the European Court of Human Rights [official website].

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