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Russia's former defense minister summoned to court over corruption case

The court meeting will take place January 12
Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov ITAR-TASS/Valery Sharifulin
Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov
© ITAR-TASS/Valery Sharifulin

MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. Russia’s former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has been summoned to the Presnensky Court of Moscow for testifying in the Oboronservis case of corruption in the ministry.

“A subpoena was sent to Serdyukov today to summon him to a court meeting on January 12,” the court press secretary Nina Yurkova told TASS on Thursday.

The former defense minister was to be questioned on December 23, but the court meeting has been postponed already twice due to illness of defendant Yuri Grekhnyov who was taken to hospital on December 22.

The main defendant in the criminal case - former head of the property relations department of the Russian Defense Ministry Yevgeniya Vasilyeva is charged with embezzlement of Oboronservis funds during the sale of the company property. The main military investigation department of the Russian Investigative Committee says that according to the charges, her criminal actions inflicted damage on the state in excess of over $57 million.

The Oboronservis proceedings, launched in October 2012, led to the dismissal of then Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and other senior Defense Ministry officials.