Advocates demand to release former judge Novikov

The Nevinnomyssk City Court has extended the arrest of Dmitry Novikov, a former Sochi judge and lawyer, by three months. During his three months in custody, no investigative actions were conducted with Novikov, his advocate have stated after appealing against this ruling.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Dmitry Novikov, a former judge of the Khosta District Court of Sochi and a lawyer, was detained in Moscow on June 5, 2021, on suspicion of an attempted mediation in bribing; a court in Novorossiysk ruled to arrest him. His advocate reported a false denunciation against his client.

Now, the Nevinnomyssk City Court, at the request of an investigator from Novorossiysk, has ruled to extend the arrest of Novikov, a source from the office for criminal cases of the Nevinnomyssk City Court told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on September 3. "His custody has been extended until December 3," she said.

"Our arguments that, being under house arrest, Novikov will not be able to hide anywhere or to put pressure on anyone, have been rejected," said Roman Novikov, Dmitry's son who is also a lawyer.

Roman Novikov has noted that no investigative actions were conducted with his father for the last three months. "The only thing that the investigator did during the whole time of my father's custody was appointing an examination. For the last month that the father is behind bars, nothing has been done at all," Roman has stated.

The defence has filed appeals against the extension of Dmitry Novikov's arrest.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 4, 2021 at 03:17 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.