Serebrennikov has to read criminal case materials by July 19 - court decision
MOSCOW. May 30 (Interfax) - The Moscow Basmanny District Court has given Gogol Center art director and stage director Kirill Serebrennikov, who is charged with budget funds embezzlement, until July 19 to read the criminal case materials, an Interfax correspondent has reported.
"The court has ruled to give accused Serebrennikov until July 19 to become familiar with the criminal case materials," Judge Natalia Dudar said.
Thus, the court partially granted the request of the investigators, who had asked to give Serebrennikov and his lawyers until June 29 to read the case materials, and agreed with the prosecutor, who suggested limiting the period to July 19.
The Moscow Basmanny District Court will hear a similar motion against Sofya Apfelbaum, former director of the Russian Culture Ministry's department of state support of art and folk arts and director of the Russian Academic Youth Theater, on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.
The court will consider the issue of limiting the period of time given to read the case materials to former general producer of Studio Seven and former Gogol Center director Alexei Malobrodsky and former Studio Seven general director Yury Itin, who are also implicated in the case, on June 1.
There are six suspects in the so-called Studio Seven case: Serebrennikov, Malobrodsky, Apfelbaum, and the organization's ex-general director Yury Itin, former chief accountant Nina Maslyayeva, and general producer Yekaterina Voronova. The latter left the country and was charged in absentia.
All have been charged with embezzling 133 million of the public funds allocated to Studio Seven, founded by Serebrennikov, in 2011-2014 for the implementation of the Platform project.
The inquiry was completed in January 2018, but the accused did not see the dossier before the affected party, the Culture Ministry, finished reading it in early spring.
All suspects, except Malobrodsky, who is banned from traveling, and Voronova, have been placed under house arrest.