Court of Stavropol schedules next session on Bestuzhy's case for June 5

On Monday, the Oktiabrsky District Court of Stavropol continued the preliminary hearing on the case of Igor Bestuzhy, the former head of the city administration. It was held behind closed doors; and the court retired to the jury room until June 5.

"The preliminary hearing will continue on Wednesday, at 2:00 p.m.," said Oksana Melekhova, the press-secretary of the Stavropol Territorial Court, as quoted by the "Rossiyskaya Gazeta".

During the already held hearings, the defence moved a motion to change the defendant's freedom restriction measure to any other, not related to custody.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the ex-head of the administration of Stavropol Igor Bestuzhy was detained on February 2, 2012, on suspicion of attempting to take a bribe in the amount of 50 million roubles. In April 2012, a criminal case was initiated against him for taking a bribe of 1.8 million roubles, and for arms trafficking.

The Oktiabrsky District Court of Stavropol began its familiarization with the materials of his case on May 27. On that day, Inna Denisova, the defendant's lawyer, said that Igor Bestuzhy's confession had been extracted under torture. His family has reported that they had appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on violation of his rights during the investigation.