Court upholds arrest in absentia of extremist Martsinkevich
MOSCOW. Jan 22 (Interfax) - The Moscow City Court upheld on Wednesday the arrest in absentia of nationalist Maxim Martsinkevich, aka Tesak, accused of extremism.
The court has dismissed the appeal petition filed by the defense of the nationalist, who was detained in Cuba, an Interfax correspondent reported.
Moscow's Kuntsevsky court ruled on December 13, 2013 to place Martsinkevich under arrest in absentia.
According to court press secretary Tatyana Danshova, Martsinkevich is accused of "inciting hatred or enmity and abasing dignity of a person or a group of people with violence or with the threat of using it." Martsinkevich is suspected of posting a video on a social network, which, according to investigators, contain extremist statements.
Martsinkevich was detained in Cuba on January 18. Martsinkevich is currently in Havana and Russia should submit documents for his extradition to the Cuban authorities in the soon, Martsinkevich's lawyer Alexei Mikhalchik said.
Martsinkevich is known for his racist statements. He used to be a member of the people's national party and then he created an association of skinheads Format-18, which was banned and labeled extremist. Martsinkevich has spent three years and six months in a Russian jail for inciting hatred over ethnicity or religion.