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One of suspected attackers of lawmaker Khudyakov remains under arrest

The prosecutor saw no grounds to review the measure of restraint either

MOSCOW, July 26 (Itar-Tass) - The Moscow City Court on Friday rendered lawful the arrest of Arthur Minbulatov, accused of beating State Duma lawmaker from the Liberal Democratic Party Roman Khudyakov.

The court ruled to dismiss the appeal petition of the defense. At a court session, Minbulatov’s lawyer Sergei Klyuzhev marked that “the only reason behind Minbulatov’s arrest is publicity move. He would have never been arrested if there had been somebody else and not a deputy at wheel”.

According to Klyuzhev, the arguments of the prosecution and the court are absolutely vicious. He stressed that “the defendant did not make a single strike and did not escape”. “The complainant himself says Minbulatov never laid a finger on him, so what arrest are we talking about?” he summed up.

Khudyakov’s lawyer Yanis Yuksha, for his part, mentioned the ruling of the Russian Investigative Committee to put his client under state protection in connection with threats he receives. He asked to leave Minbulatov under arrest. The lawyer stressed that Minbulatov is also a suspect in other cases, where components of crime are graver. “Besides, my client is still in hospital. His condition is not very good, there are problems with an eye which is almost blind,” he noted. “Khudyakov’s injuries may be graver than it seemed initially,” he said.

The prosecutor saw no grounds to review the measure of restraint either.

Under the ruling of Moscow’s Dorogomilovsky district court, Artur Minbulatov was put under arrest till September 10 on suspicion of beating Khudyakov. Later he was also accused of battery and hooliganism. He does not plead guilty saying it was “a small routine road conflict”.

In the evening of July 9, a Toyota Land Cruiser driver in Moscow's Berezhkovskaya Embankment, made a dangerous maneuver and forced Khudyakov's car to stop. The Toyota's driver and passengers got out, and using invectives, beat up the lawmaker and fled the scene.

Four suspects, all natives of Dagestan, were detained in Volgograd region at a road police post near the village of Gorodishche the next day and flown to Moscow. Criminal proceedings were opened under the penal code article on battery for hooligan motives and hooliganism. Khudyakov identified two of his attackers: driver Minbulatov and passenger Zakarya Gadzhiyev. Both were placed under arrest.