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Investigators say economy minister is the only suspect in bribe-taking case

The minister's attorneys have made a decision to appeal against the court order

Alexei Ulyukayev Artyom Korotayev/TASS

Alexei Ulyukayev

© Artyom Korotayev/TASS

MOSCOW, November 16. /TASS/. Russian Investigative Committee’s spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko has urged the media to rely only on official committee's information concerning the case of the former Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev.

"Russia’s Investigative Committee is investigating a criminal case against former Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev. We have published all possible information that is quite exhaustive at this stage," Petrenko said.

"We have issued an official statement that there is one suspect and one episode in the criminal case. The other reports about modus operandi, the number of suspects and the number of episodes, about the investigative activities and timeframes of the operative work do not correspond to reality and remain a burden on the conscience of those media outlets that use unscrupulous, uninformed and incompetent sources," she said.

Ulyukayev getting ready for battle in court

Lawyers of former Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev will lodge a protest against his house arrest until Sunday, Timofei Gridnev, the former minister’s lawyer, said on Wednesday aired by the Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio station.

"After thorough consideration of the court ruling and materials the investigators presented to substantiate their request for a house arrest, we have made a decision to appeal against court order at the Moscow City Court. The appeal will be filed in the next two days," the lawyer said.

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Ulyukayev was detained at about 18.00 Moscow Standard Time (15.00 GMT) on November 14 at an office of the Russian state-run oil giant Rosneft, Gridnev said. At the same time, he pointed out that circumstances of and reasons for Ulyukayev’s presence at that office was "information related to the preliminary probe" and so he could not disclose it.

Ulyukayev has been indicted under Article 290 of the Russian Criminal Code (large-scale bribe-taking and extortion of a bride by a person who holds a government post of the Russian Federation).

On November 15, Moscow’s Basmanny district court ruled to place him under house arrest. He is due to stay in his Moscow flat. Also, he is not allowed to leave it without permission, communicate with anyone, except his close relatives, send messages by mail or use any other means of communication. The court order says that he may use a phone to call for an ambulance or emergency services.

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