The Supreme Court of Tatarstan today extended the arrest of Vladislav Mukhin, who is a defendant in the Pervakov case.
Mukhin is the only one of the 6 defendants who was taken into custody. Pervaki Three more – Firdinat Yusupov, Sergey Sardaev, Leonid Andreev – are at large, two defendants died before the trial began – Alexander Yerusalimsky died in 2002, and Valentin Lukoyanov died in 2021.
State prosecutor Sergei Yakunin, filing a motion to extend the arrest, said that it would take a long time to consider the case, and Mukhin’s arrest would expire on November 22. He considered it impossible to change his preventive measure to a softer one because Mukhin had previously “hidden and was wanted.”
Mukhin’s lawyer Ruslan Nagiyev noted that the arguments of the prosecutor’s office are based on assumptions. he really lived abroad, but traveled outside the Russian Federation, being free from criminal prosecution, the lawyer pointed out. Mukhin himself supported his lawyer and asked to be released under house arrest.
Pervaki himself supported his lawyer and asked to be released under house arrest.
Judge Alexander Shemuranov, after hearing the parties, decided to extend arrest for 3 months, until February 22, 2023.
In addition, today during the process it became known that the state prosecutor Guzel Ishmuratova joined the case. In court, she said that her husband was a judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tajikistan, which is why the lawyers and the defendants challenged her, suggesting that such a close relationship with the judge could become a reason for the bias of the state prosecutor. However, the judge pointed out that he had nothing to do with the investigation of the case, he did not take procedural decisions on it, and therefore there were no grounds for recusal.
At this point, the process was postponed, because the lawyer of the deceased defendant Yerusalimsky did not appear in court.
Recall that the defendants are charged with 6 episodes of murder, banditry, and illegal possession of weapons. In 2013, they had already been acquitted on the same charge, but it was subsequently overturned.