The Khimki Court outside Moscow on Friday sanctioned the arrest of Andrei Chernyshyov, a Khimki city administration worker, on charges of organizing an attack on a local ecological environmentalist.
Konstantin Fetisov was severely beaten by men with a baseball bat on November 4. Fetisov had protested against government plans to chop down part of a mature forest in Khimki to make way for a multi-lane motorway linking Moscow to St. Petersburg, as well as publishing material in newspapers on the plans. He was also actively involved in placing his ballot for the Khimki mayor's position.
According to an investigative report, Chernyshyov "received an order before September 18, 2010, from an unidentified individual to cause severe physical harm to Fetisov."
There are so far four individuals indicted in the beating. The court earlier sanctioned the arrest of Denis Rastokin, 26. The court is presently reviewing the possible arrests of Vyacheslav Kovalyov, 25, and Andrei Kashirin, 28.
According to charges brought against Chernyshyov, the first attack on Fetisov on September 18 was "unsuccessful," and another attack was organized for November 4. That attack put Fetisov in coma.
Investigators have said that Rastokin has already made a written confession to the crime and Kovalyov is presently giving his testimony that incriminates Chernyshyov.
Fetisov was attacked two days before Oleg Kashin, a journalist with the influential Kommersant daily, who was severely beaten by two men outside his home in Moscow. Kashin, who has been voted Journalist of the Year by Russian bloggers, had also criticized the Moscow-St. Petersburg road project.
MOSCOW, December 31 (RIA Novosti)
