Radiy Burulov, mayor of Elista in Kalmykia, arrested

On July 30, Radiy Burulov, mayor of Elista, was taken into custody in the course of the Elista town court session.

Until July 29, Burulov was at Stavropol hospital where he was treated for a coronary disease. Then he was referred to Moscow for further treatment. However, on July 29, Burulov was taken from the Moscow hospital to the Elista town court which intended to consider the issue of changing the measure of restraint in the form of an undertaking not to leave for an arrest.

Anjelika Gurskaya, Elista mayor's adviser on mass media, has recently told the RBK daily that on the night of July 29 officers of the Department on Fighting Economic Crimes of the RF MoI arrived at the hospital where Burulov was treated. "They produced the court order to the effect that Burulov must be brought to the court session," she said.  "At that moment, the mayor was given an injection and his cardiogram was being taken. The results were not very favorable. However, this did not stop them". The mayor's doctor was out of the hospital while the doctor on duty could not prevent the patient's departure.

The mayor was brought to the Elista town court building in a "Mercedes" accompanied by a "Gazel" with armed riot squad officers.
Prior to the court session, town hall functionaries and public assembly deputes, headed by chairman S.Tadonov, started to come to the Elista town court. Notably, various mass media representatives could not manage to get into the court room.

The criminal case against Radiy Burulov, mayor of Elista, was initiated on March 13, he was suspected of abusing his power. Many people in Kalmykia think that the situation around the disgraced mayor is explained by the fact that Radiy Burulov has managed to oppose Kirsan Iliumzhinov, Kalmykia president, for six months, which affects the leader's reputation.