vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #150 / Crime watch / Reading article...

The trial against Vladivostok’s Larionov gang has been delayed at least until December, after a technicality sent it to the Federation Supreme Court in Moscow for legal consultation.

The krai court was ready to hear the case when a minor suspect complained that his rights were violated because his lawyer was not present during testimony. Though the general prosecutor on the case dismissed the claim, the krai court decided to pass the case to Moscow, fearing that a krai-level ruling would be appealed if the suspect’s complaint were later deemed valid.

If the Supreme Court decides in favor of the suspect, prosecutors will collect testimony again, delaying the final hearing until June 1998. If not, the krai court will hear the case at the end of the year, when the Supreme Court’s decision is expected to come through.

Fifteen members of the Larionov gang were arrested in late 1993 on charges of murder, armed assault, kidnapping, and robbery. Four gang members have already pleaded guilty in a previous trial.