The court extended the term of detention in a pre-trial detention center for the ex-governor of the Khabarovsk Territory by three months

The Moscow City Court extended until October 7 a measure of restraint in the form of detention for the former governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, Sergei Furgal. This is reported by Business FM with reference to the press service of the court.

The publication clarified that Furgal's lawyer Mikhail Karapetyan asked the court to soften the preventive measure and release his client under house arrest, as he had been ill with the coronavirus and needed to recover.

The ex-governor is being held in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. On June 30, Alexei Melnikov, chairman of the Moscow PMC, spoke about the prisoner's well-being: Furgal is recovering from the coronavirus and complains about the heat and stuffiness in the cell. He also continues to receive correspondence with a long delay. So, only in mid-June, the SIZO employees handed him letters and telegrams with congratulations on his birthday, which took place in February.

• FSB officers detained Sergei Furgal in July 2020 on suspicion of involvement in a number of contract killings in 2004 and 2005. The accusation is based on the testimony of Nikolai Mistryukov, who is an accomplice in the case.
• The official was taken to Moscow, where he was subsequently arrested. Later, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Furgal's resignation from the post of governor and appointed Mikhail Degtyarev, Furgal's fellow party member in the Liberal Democratic Party, to this post.
• Since the detention of the ex-official in July 2018, have been held actions in support of him in Russian cities. During the first week, the police in Khabarovsk almost did not try to interfere with the protesters, but later law enforcement officers began to detain the protesters and initiate administrative and, in some cases, criminal cases against them.