A jury in Russia has found a former Yukos oil company security official guilty of two murders.
The court in Moscow Thursday ruled that Alexei Pichugin organized the 2002 slaying of a married couple, as well as the attempted murder of a Moscow official. Sentencing is expected Friday.
He was arrested in 2003.
Critics have denounced the trial as part of Kremlin efforts to dismantle Yukos and retaliate for the support the firm's former chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky gave the political opposition.
The government denies the claim, saying the Yukos affair is part of a crackdown on corporate crime.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.
