Luzhkov will not be forced to appear in court on election results hearings

It seems that Moscow’s ex-mayor Yury Luzhkov will not be dragged to court in handuffs after all, since that he has been removed from the list of interested parties on A Just Russia’s lawsuit after failing to appear at two consecutive court hearings.

“Luzhkov’s expulsion from the list of interested parties has been a complete surprise for us,” A Just Russia representative Alexander Bekhov said.He also noted that the court denied A Just Russia’s petitions on calling in 19 high-placed officials of the old Moscow government as witnesses.

“The court will start examining the lawsuits on merits on Nov. 15, although we have already called for judge Magzhanova’s removal in view of her actions,” Bekhov said.

A Just Russia is demanding the anullment of the 2009 City Duma election because they think Yury Luzhkov, then Moscow mayor, used his official position to rig the election result.