The court extended the arrest period for Khopr's defenders

On December 3, the Novousmansky District Court of the Voronezh Region once again extended the detention of Novokhopersk Cossack Igor Zhitenev and former Stopnickel activist Mikhail Bezmensky for three months, until March 10, 2016. Zhitenev and Bezmensky, who previously participated in the fight against nickel mining in the Voronezh region, are accused of extorting funds from the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company in order to stop the protests at Khoper. In November 2015, exactly two years have passed since the arrest of the accused.

On December 3, the defendants' defense gave numerous arguments in favor of changing the measure of restraint to house arrest, pointing out that Bezmensky and Zhitenev would no longer be able to put pressure on the participants in the process, since the court had interrogated almost all the witnesses. The defenders also provided documents on the diseases of the defendants requiring constant care.

Zhitenev noted that at the moment he needs to help his family, to be there, during his imprisonment his father died, his mother is sick, his young daughter lives with his wife, who was forced to leave Novokhopersk in one day after her husband's arrest.

Earlier, in early November 2015, the human rights center Memorial recognized Igor Zhitenev as a political prisoner.