ROSTOV-ON-DON, March 24 (RAPSI) – The murder and terrorism trial against disgraced mayor Said Amirov of the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala reached a military court, RIA Novosti reports Monday.

A pretrial hearing is set for April 14, the agency quoted a spokesperson for the court in Rostov-on-Don as having said.

He added that a few witnesses to the case have claimed that they received threats to their lives. The prosecutors viewed them as adequately serious to justify a transfer of the case to a military court.

A long-term member of the ruling United Russia party, Amirov has served as mayor of Makhachkala since 1998.

He was arrested on June 1, 2013, and transported to Moscow, where he was taken into custody on suspicion of having ordered the 2011 murder of investigator Arsen Gadzhibekov in the Dagestani city of Kaspiysk. Amirov has denounced the case as politically motivated.

Gadzhibekov was fatally shot near his home as he was getting out of his car. He had worked on a number of criminal cases, including the 2010 terror attack in Kizlyar that killed 10 and injured 270.

On June 4, charges were officially brought against Amirov. The investigators allege that he ordered the murder.

On October 28, Amirov was also charged with terrorism and illegal arms trafficking. Investigators found that he planned to fire at a plane carrying Amirov's political opponent Sagid Murtazaliyev by a man-portable air defense system.

Amirov was detained after his arrest. Earlier in March his detention was extended until June 1.