The court in Simferopol extended the arrest of “Crimean saboteurs” Panov and Zakhtey

The Kiev District Court of Simferopol extended by three months the arrest period of Andrei Zakhtey and Evgeniy Panov, accused of preparing sabotage in Crimea, who were transferred to Crimea from the Moscow Lefortovo detention center in mid-February, lawyer Alexey Ladin told Mediazona.

The period of detention for Panov and Zakhteya has been extended until June 7.

Ladin, representing the interests of Zakhtey, noted that during the hearing the court had to consider specific materials from the case, which indicate that the person could hide or interfere with the investigation and trial. “There was no evidence in the material, the investigation did not have any arguments; they were based on the gravity of the crime and the investigator’s assumptions,” he noted.

“The representative of the state prosecution stated that he has doubts that Zakhtey’s Russian citizenship is genuine, but there is no information about his doubts in the case materials. Nevertheless, he considered that this was a basis for extending the period of detention,” Ladin explained.

At the end of January, the Moscow City Court recognized the extension of the arrest of Andrey Zakhtey and Evgeny Panov until March 7 as legal. They are accused of preparing sabotage by an organized group (Article 30, paragraph “a” of Part 2 of Article 281 of the Criminal Code). Another “Crimean saboteur” Redvan Suleymanov was accused in January of complicity in a false report of a terrorist attack (Part 2 of Article 207 of the Criminal Code): at first he was in custody in a pre-trial detention center in Simferopol, later the court did not extend his arrest.

“Mediazona” followed the events in Crimea after the FSB announced the prevention of terrorist attacks “prepared by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.” Lawyers for Zakhtey and Panov reported on torture that was used on their clients after their arrest.