Supreme Court overturns verdict in Novosibirsk vice-mayor murder

Russia«s Supreme Court has returned to the prosecutor the criminal case concerning the murder of Novosibirsk Vice-Mayor Igor Belyakov, which was committed in 2001. This was reported by the Supreme Court on January 21.

The court clarified that after the verdict came into force, arguments emerged that other people might be involved in the official«s murder.

«The Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of Russia»s Supreme Court concluded that the verdict and the cassation ruling should be overturned due to new circumstances that could not have been taken into account earlier and were established during the investigation,« the Supreme Court clarified.

The Supreme Court clarified that the case of the deputy mayor«s murder was returned to the prosecutor to remove obstacles to its consideration by the court.

In 2006, former serviceman Alexander Katalitsky was found guilty of the contract killing of Igor Belyakov. The court sentenced him to 14 years in a penal colony, and the appellate and cassation instances upheld the decision.

NGS learned in early January that law enforcement agencies conducted a new investigation into this case. Details are in our material.