Moscow court extends pretrial arrest of opposition figure Kara-Murza until mid-December

MOSCOW. Oct 10 (Interfax) - Moscow's Basmanny District Court has ruled that the investigation's request to extend the pretrial arrest of opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza (designated as a foreign agent), charged with high treason, be granted, the court told Interfax on Monday.

"The court has ruled to extend Kara-Murza's custody term until December 12, 2022," it said.

The court declined a motion by Kara-Murza's defense team to order an alternative pretrial restrictive measure for its client.

Kara-Murza was taken into custody in a case dealing with the dissemination of false information on the Russian Armed Forces this past spring. In the summer, he was charged with involvement in activities of an organization officially designated as undesirable. In October, the investigation charged him with three counts of high treason based on his presentations abroad.

The case has been handled by the Russian Investigative Committee.

Kara-Murza has denied any wrongdoing and considers his prosecution to be politically-motivated.