MP Khudyakov's suspected attacker remanded into custody
MOSCOW. July 12 (Interfax) - Zakarya Gadzhiyev, a native of Dagestan suspected of attacking Russian Liberal Democratic Party parliamentarian Roman Khudyakov, has been remanded into custody by Moscow's Dorogomilovsky Court until September 10.
On Thursday evening, Judge Anton Tolstoi supported the state prosecutor, who argued that the suspect could hide from investigation and put pressure on Khudyakov, an Interfax correspondent reported.
Gadzhiyev, for his part, denied any guilt.
Gadzhiyev's lawyer said that the row between his client and the parliamentarian was not politically motivated.
"It is an ordinary row, which was initiated by Khudyakov himself to a certain extent. It was just a conflict on the road," the lawyer said.
The lawyer said that the conflict could have been provoked by Khudyakov himself in order to attract publicity.
The row broke out on July 9 after Gadzhiyev threw a candy inside Khudyakov's car and said an obscenity, the lawyer said. After it, Gadzhiyev drove away, but Khudyakov caught up with his car and continued the row.
A hearing into the case of the second suspect, Artur Minbulatov, was postponed until Friday morning due to the late hour, a court spokesman told Interfax.
Khudyakov earlier identified the suspects as his attackers.
The Russian Investigative Committee told Interfax earlier that it had opened a criminal inquiry into the attack on Khudyakov.
Investigators established that an unknown man driving a Toyota Land Cruiser sport utility vehicle performed a dangerous maneuver in front of Khudyakov's car at Berezhkovskaya Embankment on Wednesday evening.
The driver and passenger then got out of the SUV and struck Khudyakov on the head with their hands many times.
The parliamentarian was admitted to hospital with a concussion and other injuries.
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office is overseeing the investigation into the incident.
The suspects were detained in the Volgograd region on Wednesday evening.
