Two defendants in Nasty Rybka, Alex Lesley case released with travel restrictions
MOSCOW. Jan 19 (Interfax) - Two people involved in a criminal case against Vashukevich (Nastya Rybka) and Alexander Kirillov (Alex Lesley) on charges of engagement into prostitution were released with travel restrictions.
"They indeed were restrictions with travel restrictions. I can say nothing more," lawyer of one of the defendants Alexander Molokhov said.
According to media reports, Andrei Zhezhka (Poker) and Maria Zharkova, friends of Vashukevich and Kirillov, were detained together with them.
The Nagatinsky District Court is hearing the investigation's motion to arrest Vashukevich until February 16. The same court will later hear the same motion with regard to Kirillov.
On February 25, 2018, Belarusian citizen Vashukevich and Kirillov together with eight other people were detained at a Pattaya hotel in Thailand. All 10 people were initially charged with working without proper visa, later they were also charged with offering sex services.
On January 15, a court in Pattaya sentenced Vashukevich and Kirillov to 18 months in prison for conspiring to offer sex services. They served nine months in a Thai prison during the investigation. The remainder of the term was substituted with a suspended sentence.
On January 17, they were deported from Thailand to Russia.
Vashukevich and Kirillov were detained upon arrival from Thailand. They are charged with engaging into prostitution, the Moscow police press service said. They face up to six years in prison.
Vashukevich and Kirillov gained prominence after reports about the private life of Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska, which were reflected in an investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Foundation led by opposition activist Alexei Navalny.
In July 2018, after their arrest in Thailand, the Ust-Labinsky District Court in Russia's Krasnodar Territory sided with Deripaska in a lawsuit filed against the two over the posting of material related to Deripaska's private life on social media without his consent. The court ordered each defendant to pay 500,000 rubles in moral damages.
Vashukevich said on her Instagram page shortly after the detention in Thailand that she is ready to give U.S. media records "dealing with ties of our reputable parliament members with [U.S. President Donald] Trump and this fuss surrounding the U.S. election."
Kirillov's wife Kristina Sheremetyeva told journalists that FBI officers interrogated Vashukevich and Kirillov in the Thai prison.
Vashukevich is not going to publicize confidential data she knows, Sheremetyeva said, adding that Nastya Rybka has not discrediting files.