27 April 2009, 20:00
Court to consider petition on arrest in absentia of former advocate of ex-senator from Kalmykia
The Moscow Investigatory Department (MID) of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation has petitioned to the Zamoskvoretskiy Court of Moscow for arrest in absentia of well-known Russian advocate Boris Kuznetsov who had earlier represented the interests of Levon Chakhmakhchyan, ex-senator from Kalmykia, now convicted to 9 years of imprisonment.
The "Caucasian Knot" reported earlier that the MID of the ICPO had charged Kuznetsov in absentia with disclosure of state secrets.
Now, the investigation motivates its request on arrest in absentia by the fact that they cannot establish Boris Kuznetsov's whereabouts. This form of arrest will allow announcing the defendant into international search. Meanwhile, Kuznetsov's advocates treat this motivation as absurd, since their client "notified in writing the inspector that he lives in the USA, and gave his address." The consideration of the arrest petition is appointed on April 28, as the "Kommersant" newspaper writes.
Mr Kuznetsov believes that the arrest petition is a reaction to his complaint on numerous violations of the law in his criminal case, starting from its initiation.
