MCC upholds arrest of suspected Budanov's killer

Today, the judicial division for criminal cases of the Moscow City Court (MCC) dismissed a complaint of Magomed Suleimanov's defence, challenging the lawfulness of his arrest. Magomed Suleimanov is accused of the murder of ex-Colonel Yuri Budanov.

Let us remind you that in late August the Presnya Court of Moscow arrested Magomed Suleimanov, a native of the Chechen Republic, suspected of the murder of ex-Colonel Yuri Budanov. He is being charged of crimes under Article 105 (murder) and 222 (illegal possession of arms) of the Russian Criminal Code.

Today, the decision of the Presnya Court of Moscow on the Suleimanov's arrest till October 26, 2011, was upheld.

According to the investigators, Magomed Suleimanov, the native of Chechnya, born in 1970, on April 2 entered into criminal conspiracy with unidentified persons, aiming at Budanov's murder. According to the investigators, accomplices have developed a plan under which they were carrying out a covert surveillance of ex-Colonel, to set the mode of his day and determine the most suitable place, time and manner of crime.

The investigators believe that for the preparation of the murder Suleimanov and his accomplices purchased a car with forged body numbers and counterfeited license number plates. Besides, they purchased a firearm, made from a gas pistol, a device for noiseless and flameless fire, and rounds.

The investigators revealed that on year June 10 Suleimanov and accomplices followed Budanov, when he entered the yard of his house in Komsomolsky Avenue in Moscow. The defendant got out from the car and fired at least eight shots at ex-Colonel, the RAPSI reports.

In turn, the lawyers of Suleimanov, accused of the Yuri Budanov's murder, claim that their client had been kidnapped and tortured before he had been brought to law enforcement agency. Murad Musaev, the Suleimanov's lawyer reported that his client had submitted a complaint on kidnapping long time ago.

"He was kidnapped on August 19 near Mosfilmovskaya Street by people in work clothes, without identification signs on a GAI (road police) car and with a man in the uniform of road police officer. They forced him into a van and tortured during several days and then brought him to the park of Troparevo-Nikulino, handcuffed him to a tree and left, and only after that law enforcement agents arrived and arrested him," said Murad Musaev.

According to him, the complaint on kidnapping is under pre-investigation inspection. "The inspection is being conducted quite sluggishly; medical examination was carried out in three weeks after the complaint submission. After such a long term, it would be a problem to find signs of violence, injuries on the toes, subjected to electric current, are very vague now," said the lawyer.

The Investigatory Committee (IC) has no information that the kidnapping and unlawful confinement of Magomed Suleimanov is allegedly under pre-investigation inspection. "We have no such information," the "Interfax" quotes Vladimir Markin, Spokesman of the ICRF, as saying.