Advocates of the figurant in Politkovskaya's murder case appeal against extension of his arrest

The defence of Sergey Khadjikurbanov, a figurant in the murder case of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist of the "Novaya Gazeta", has decided to challenge the extension of his arrest, which was ruled by the Moscow City Court.

The charge of taking part in Politkovskaya's murder was presented to Sergey Khadjikurbanov on October 27, 2011; he had been earlier sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of extortion from another alleged organizer of the crime Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov.

The investigator Dmitry Manyusov asked the court to extend the arrest until March 7, 2013, in order to complete the inquiry and give time to the defendant and his advocates to study the materials of the case. Khadjikurbanov has not yet studied all the volumes of the case, investigators assert.

The prosecutor Shavrov also asked the court to satisfy the investigator's motion.

In his turn, Alexei Mikhalchik, the defendant's advocate, objected to the arguments of the investigator and the prosecutor.

"My client was arrested within the criminal case, which is now closed due to lack of evidence," Alexei Mikhalchik told the court.

Khadjikurbanov also drew attention to the fact that he has been kept in custody for five years already.

Under the ruling of the court, Khadjikurbanov will stay in custody until March 7.