Deputy Defense Minister Ivanov refused to be released from custody
Deputy head of the Russian Ministry of Defense Timur Ivanov, who was arrested on charges of corruption, was refused to be released from the pre-trial detention center. On May 8, the Moscow City Court rejected the request of Ivanov’s defense to reduce his sentence of house arrest.
The lawyers of the Deputy Minister of Defense were not helped in this even by four packages with Ivanov’s awards, which they brought into the courtroom, thereby trying to influence the decision.
The defense brought dozens of Ivanov’s awards to the court
Appealing to the court with a request to release Ivanov from the pre-trial detention center, the defense brought four packages with Ivanov’s awards to the Moscow City Court; “Russian Army” was written on the packages. It is indicated that they were carried by two people. Also published photos with awards – in court they took up almost the entire table of lawyer Murad Musaev. The defense pointed out that among them there are awards of the Hero of the DPR and LPR. In addition, release from custody would contribute to the “active investigation” of the case, lawyers believed.
It was proposed to arrange house arrest for Ivanov either in an apartment located opposite the Supreme Court in the center of Moscow, or in a house on Rublyovka.
However, the appeal against the decision of the Basmanny Court of Moscow was rejected. The meeting was held behind closed doors – the investigator explained the need for a secret investigation. The deputy minister was left in Lefortovo until June 23. Ivanov himself participated in the consideration of the appeal from the detention center via video link. In the footage, he is in civilian clothes listening to the court decision with a calm look. Musaev later said that “Ivanov’s mood is cheerful,” despite being kept in solitary confinement in the previous days. Now the quarantine for the deputy minister has ended, and he was transferred to a double cell, the defense lawyer noted.
The lawyer added that today’s decision will also be appealed in cassation.
The investigation considered that Ivanov could hide in Europe, despite the sanctions
The press service of the court, explaining the decision, noted that no grounds were found for mitigating the preventive measure. The investigation and the prosecutor’s office opposed the defense’s request.
As Murad Musaev reported, one of the arguments of the investigation was that Ivanov, if the preventive measure was relaxed, could allegedly hide in the European Union countries. He pointed out that this would be impossible due to the fact that the deputy head of the Ministry of Defense is listed on both European and American sanctions lists. According to Musayev, “it is unacceptable to talk about this with a serious face at a court hearing.”
Ivanov has indeed been under American sanctions since March 2022. Then the State Department, due to a special military operation entered restrictive measures against 11 representatives of the Russian defense complex. Timur Ivanov also included on the sanctions lists of Great Britain, Canada and the European Union.
Musaev also complained that lawyers have still not been able to get to Ivanov in the pre-trial detention center.
We are still not allowed into Lefortovo. You can only get there with written permission from the investigator, but he has been avoiding issuing them for two weeks now.
Musaev also confirmed the data that Ivanov was temporarily removed from the post of Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.
Ivanov is charged with bribes worth a billion rubles
Musaev also added information about the essence of the charges brought forward. “The point is that Ivanov’s contractors allegedly built his facilities for free,” the defense lawyer said, saying that this is not true. He noted that the amount mentioned is one billion rubles.
He also noted that Ivanov does not own the apartment in Chisty Lane or the mansion on Rublyovka. “He has one apartment, which he owns, he pays the mortgage for it,” the lawyer said.
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As part of the case, at the request of the Investigative Committee, the property of a number of people close to Ivanov, including the bank accounts of his parents, was also seized. “10 thousand rubles were seized on their bank cards,” Musaev explained. The defense stated that it did not know about other property that was also seized.
Timur Ivanov was detained on the evening of April 23 at his workplace. According to investigators, the Deputy Minister of Defense entered into a criminal conspiracy and, as part of an organized group, received property benefits from contracting and subcontracting work for the needs of the military department. Ivanov was charged under Article 290 (“Receiving a bribe on an especially large scale”) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. He did not admit his guilt.
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