Malobrodsky becomes subject of new criminal inquiry - lawyer
MOSCOW. July 18 (Interfax) - A new criminal case has been opened against the former director of Gogol-center and ex-general producer of Seventh Studio, Alexei Malobrodsky, who is charged with fraud, an Interfax correspondent reported.
"The criminal case was launched today at 10:30 a.m., something not possible at all in the 20 years of my practice. Currently, the investigators are opening a criminal case ex post facto. My client did not receive any notices, and no charge was brought against him. All the documents were cooked up today. Malobrodsky must be released from the courtroom immediately," his lawyer Kseniya Karpinskaya said.
Also figuring in the new criminal case are Seventh Studio's ex-chief accountant Nina Maslyayeva and ex-general director Yury Itin, the lawyer said.
For his part, the investigator said that he saw no reason to change the restraining measure for the suspects.
"There is an instance of evidence having been destroyed by the persons under investigation in this case. Maslyayeva has yet to fulfill all of the obligations under her deal with investigators. Itin has refused to testify at all, citing Article 51 [of the Russian Constitution]. So I am asking the court to extend the custody of Malobrodsky and Maslyayeva and to extend Itin's house arrest until October 19," the investigator said.
The petition to extend the arrest was filed a day earlier, Malobrodsky's second lawyer Yulia Lakhova said.
"We had only one criminal case, namely: regarding the staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream production. These actions are unacceptable. Yesterday the court retired for a decision, and today? On July 12 Malobrodsky was questioned on the essence of the indictment, but today, on July 18, it turns out that it was the wrong case," Lakhova said.