14 Nov 2017 18:49

Moscow court issues int'l arrest warrant for Telman Ismailov's brother Vagif

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) - Moscow's Basmanny District Court has issued an arrest warrant for Vagif Ismailov, a brother of Telman Ismailov, the former owner of the now-closed Cherkizovo market in Moscow charged with the organization of two murders, court press secretary Yunona Tsaryova told Interfax on Tuesday.

"The court sanctioned a two-month arrest warrant for Vagif Ismailov. The count will start from the moment of his extradition to Russia or from the moment of his detention in Russian territory," Tsaryova said.

Vagif Ismailov has been declared internationally wanted. He has been charged in absentia with planning the murder of two or more people and illegal arms trafficking.

Vagif Ismailov's interests in the court were represented by a state-appointed lawyer. The court's decision to issue an arrest warrant has not been appealed.

An identical charge was earlier brought against Telman Ismailov himself, and the court also issued an international arrest warrant for him.

Ismailov did not admit to any wrongdoing.

The Ismailov brothers have been charged with arranging the killing of Vladimir Savkin, the owner of a number of shopping centers, and Yury Brilyov, the founder of the company Lyublino Motors, on Novorizhskoye Highway in the Moscow region in May 2016.

Telman Ismailov's brother Rafik and Mekhman Kerimov, a suspected accomplice in the crime, were also arrested.

"Kerimov made a deal with the investigation and slandered Telman Ismailov," Marina Rusakova, a lawyer for the latter, said earlier.

The investigation does not have any other evidence against Ismailov except Kerimov's testimony, she said.

Rusakova said neither she nor Ismailov himself were summoned by the investigation for the presentation of the indictment against him, and they were not notified beforehand about the hearing during which the court ordered a restrictive measure for Ismailov.

"Telman Ismailov has never hidden himself, but nobody has summoned him anywhere, and we didn't know anything. Even at the court hearing, there was an appointed lawyer," Rusakova said.

It was reported earlier that the Investigative Committee had conducted searches at 12 addresses belonging to Ismailov in September.

Since the Cherkizovo market in eastern Moscow was shut down several years ago, Ismailov's business has significantly declined. The media has reported that his principal assets were frozen at the demand of creditors to whom he owned considerable sums of money.