Alexander Shestun in Moscow City Court / Mikhail Pochuev / TASS

On Wednesday, the Moscow City Court upheld the decision of the Basmanny Court to arrest the head of the Serpukhov District of the Moscow Region, Alexander Shestun. He is suspected of abuse of office: in 2010, the administration transferred land to the ownership of OOO Center for 600,000 rubles, causing, according to investigators, damage to the local budget in the amount of 60 million rubles.

Earlier, Shestun made an open appeal to the president, in which he reported a conflict with the governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, and stated that the head of the presidential department for domestic policy, Andrei Yarin, the head of the governor's administration, Mikhail Kuznetsov, and the head of the FSB's "K" department, Ivan Tkachev, tried to persuade him to resign. Shestun was threatened with criminal cases if he did not refuse to participate in the upcoming elections in the district. Shestun also published audio recordings of these conversations.

Serpukhov District Head Alexander Shestun Detained Before Elections

Politics / Power

In the Moscow City Court, he confirmed his version: his arrest was connected with his intention to take part in the election campaign, it was no coincidence that he was arrested on the day when the elections were to be announced. Shestun's lawyers cited the lack of any evidence of his involvement in the crime: the disputed resolution was signed by his deputy. In addition, the transaction itself was recognized as legal in 2014 by the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region: according to the rules in effect at the time, the owner of the property located on the site had the right to buy it at a discounted price. Shestun recalled that at that time he was a witness in a high-profile corruption case in the Moscow Region prosecutor's office, its employees conducted about 200 checks on him, and if there was something illegal in his actions, they would have definitely found it. "You are telling us too much," the judge cut Shestun off.

The investigators, justifying the arrest, cited the gravity of the crime committed and the "extensive connections" that Shestun had managed to acquire during his tenure. The suspect did not admit his guilt, but it is confirmed by the fact that witnesses were questioned and documents were seized, the investigator said.

Shestun's wife Yulia said that her husband intends to put forward his candidacy in the already announced elections for the head of the district. Theoretically, this can be done even while in a pretrial detention center, based on a power of attorney, if the administration of the institution does not resist, she says. The deadline for submitting documents is July 25; 150 signatures of voters must be collected for registration.

By law, the candidate is required to submit nomination documents in person, but if he is in custody, other people can do so, and the authenticity of the signature must be certified by the pretrial detention center administration. The registration process is not simple and the candidate may have problems at any stage, political scientist Alexander Kynev reminds, but, on the other hand, Shestun has nothing to lose: the more hype, the better for him. Public opinion is usually ignored in such cases, but reputational costs accumulate, the expert warns: this is the case when the solution of private problems occurs to the detriment of the overall stability of the system.

The Case of Underground Casinos in the Moscow Region 1 / 10

Alexander Ignatenko during the consideration of the "gambling" case in the Moscow City Court. / Anton Novoderezhkin / ITAR-TASS

Alexander Shestun will go to the elections from the pretrial detention center