MOSCOW. July 21 (Interfax) - Moscow's Meshchansky District Court has granted an investigator's motion to arrest one of the former leaders of the Donetsk militia, Igor Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, an Interfax correspondent said.
"A measure of restraint in the form of custody until September 18, 2023, for Girkin has been selected," Judge Olesya Mendeleyeva said when pronouncing the ruling.
As reported earlier, Girkin was apprehended after a criminal case was opened on counts of calling for extremist activity. Case files read out in court suggest that Girkin was indicted on Friday.
According to the case files, Girkin has denied all charges and is refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
Asking the judge to arrest Girkin, the investigator said in court that since the defendant had conspiratorial skills, he could escape trial if released from custody.
Girkin told the court that he would prefer house arrest as a measure of restraint, because he has health problems and is taking medication. He said he would not hide anywhere, reminding the public that he had earlier been placed on Interpol's wanted list.
The public prosecutor upheld the investigator's motion.
According to the case files, the criminal probe as part of which Girkin was detained was launched on July 18. The investigators appear to have had questions for Girkin following two posts on Telegram.
Alexander Maslov, the lawyer defending Strelkov in court, told reporters after Friday's court hearing that the ruling would be appealed. The defense team did not have enough time on Friday to collect documents proving that a restraining measure not involving incarceration in a remand prison could be selected for Girkin.
Strelkov's supporters gathered outside the courthouse, calling for his release. Some of them were taken away by police, an Interfax correspondent said.
Media reported on Thursday that Girkin had been detained. Maslov told Interfax that law enforcement officers had searched his Moscow apartment before taking him into custody.
Girkin (Strelkov) is one of the former leaders of the Donbas militia. In 2014, he briefly served as the defense minister of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). Girkin left the DPR once he stepped down from the post.
On November 17, 2022, The Hague District Court found Igor Girkin (Strelkov) and some other individuals guilty in absentia and sentenced him to life in prison in a case investigating the crash of a Boeing 777 plane, flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, which killed 298 people. Strelkov denies his and the Donetsk militia's involvement in the aviation accident.