A man accused of bribing Rostov judges has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense.

THIS MATERIAL (INFORMATION) WAS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY FOREIGN AGENT MEMO LLC, OR CONCERNING THE ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN AGENT MEMO LLC.

A court in Krasnodar granted the petition of Albert Romanov, the representative of the head of Chechnya in Kaliningrad, who is accused of bribing Rostov judges, to suspend proceedings in connection with the signing of a contract with the Ministry of Defense and his transfer to the SVO zone.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", in September 2023, Albert Romanov, the representative of the head of Chechnya in the Kaliningrad region, was taken into custody. He is suspected by investigators of acting as an intermediary in the transfer of bribes. Rostov Regional Court Chairwoman Elena Zolotareva.

At the trial of judges from the Rostov Region, Albert Romanov, accused of transferring funds to them, petitioned to suspend the proceedings against him because he had signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense for deployment to the Air Defense Zone, Kommersant reported on November 17.

The court granted Romanov's petition, thus removing the only person accused of bribery from the trial. All other bribe-givers are listed in the indictment as unidentified persons.

In May 2023, Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin asked the High Qualification Collegium of Judges to approve the initiation of criminal cases against Rostov Regional Court Head Elena Zolotareva, her deputy Tatyana Yurova, and Rostov-on-Don Zheleznodorozhny District Court Chair Georgy Bondarenko. The commission authorized the initiation of criminal proceedings, after which Moscow's Basmanny Court ordered the arrest of Zolotareva and Yurova. Bondarenko was stripped of his powers and position and also sent to pretrial detention. The appellate court refused to transfer them to house arrest. The accused judges refused to plead guilty.

The criminal prosecution of Rostov judges will not lead to a mass review of the sentences they handed down, but the convicted can challenge them in the Qualification Collegium of Judges, according to lawyers interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot."