The court considered evidence collected by the Main Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia sufficient to pass a sentence in absentia against Zaur Mardanov. He was found guilty of committing a crime under Paragraphs A, C of Part 2 of Article 126 of the Criminal Code (kidnapping).
The investigators and the court found that in January 2004, businessman Telman Ismailov, under a false pretext, ensured the arrival of pop singer Avraham Russo to the Praga restaurant in Moscow, where the artist was then illegally kept. The victim was escorted to an office located on the second floor of the restaurant, where Telman Ismailov, Zaur Mardanov, Eliyar Damirov, and Tarkhan Eldukayev beat him. Ismailov then demanded that Avraham Russo cancel all his concerts and enter into contractual relations with him to perform pop singer activities on his terms. Having suppressed the victim's will to resist, Vladimir Gusakov and Vladimir Shestopalov, as well as an unidentified person, on the instructions of Ismailov and Mardanov, forcibly placed the victim in the back seat of the car and moved him to Ismailov's house in Moscow Oblast, where they held him captive for a day until he agreed to fulfill all their requirements.
The criminal case on charging Gusakov, Damirov and Mardanov of committing the abovementioned crime was filed to the Presnensky District Court of Moscow for trial. In 2021, Gusakov and Damirov were found guilty of committing the incriminated act; they were sentenced to 6 and 5 years in prison, respectively, with release from punishment since the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution had expired.
The court separated the criminal case against Mardanov, who hid from the investigators, into a separate proceeding. The defendant was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment with release from punishment since the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution had expired. In addition, he was fined RUB 650 thousand.
Currently, other persons involved in the criminal case hide from law enforcement authorities and are wanted.
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