MOSCOW, October 17 (Itar-Tass) - A district court in Moscow has extended the period of detention of a manager of vegetable storehouses in Biryulyovo, Magomed Churilov, suspected of illegal migration organization. The detention is prolonged to October 18 for the defence to prepare for the next court meeting.
Earlier, Churilov's defense declined to comment on the case to reporters, saying they did not know details yet.
An official from the Russian Investigative Committee said in the court that testimony of two Uzbek nationals and one Moldovan was joined to the case materials, proving that managers of the vegetable storehouses had organized illegal migration and used illegal migrant workers. Churilov has a foreign passport, links with business circles and financial resources that he may use to escape or put pressure on witnesses, the official said.
Churilov in the court pleaded not guilty. He expressed indignation at the prosecution and described the investigators' arguments as nonsense. Some of his relatives and friends were present at the court meeting, loudly demanding from time to time to free Churilov.
After the hours-long questioning, an ambulance was called to the detained person who had a heart problem. Lawyer Sergei Khudyakov said the defense believed the detention was unlawful and objected to the arrest.
The court will consider the investigators' demand to take another defendant, Viktor Katelevsky, into custody.
On Wednesday, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said senior managers of the vegetable storehouses in Buryulyovo became defendants in a criminal case, two were detained and one was wanted. The Investigative Committee Moscow department has opened a criminal case against director-general of the Novye Cheryomushki company and the head of the company’s board on charges of illegal migration organization.
According to the investigators, director-general Aliaskhab Gadzhiyev, head of the company's board Magomed Churilov and other persons provided jobs at rented premises for people illegally present in Russia.
For the present, there is information about two Uzbek nationals and one Moldovan national, whom the managers had paid wages and provided dwelling. Besides, a great quantity of products without appropriate documentation was found during the search in the storehouses.
Churilov and Kotelevsky, who is director general of the agency that guarded the storehouses, are detained. Aliaskhab Gadzhiyev is on a federal wanted list.
The vegetable storehouses in Biryulyovo were closed after protest demonstrations of local residents in connection with the murder of 25-year-old Moscow resident Yegor Shcherbakov on the night to October 10. Residents gathered in the district on October 13, demanding to find the murderer and bring him to justice and check all the migrants residing in the district. Protesters said that a great number of illegal migrants resided in the territory of the storehouses. They believed the murderer could be there or nearby. The protest developed into disorders that led to detention of about 400 people. The suspected murderer is detained.