MOSCOW, September 9 (RAPSI) – A court in St. Petersburg refused to put Alexander Gorbunov, an alleged organizer of 2010 attack on investigative journalist Oleg Kashin, under house arrest, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday.

Gorbunov is charged with illegal possession of a weapon.

Kashin said he was attacked by Danila Veselov, Vyacheslav Borisov and Mikhail Kavtaskin, all of them employed at the Leninets Holding Company, which designs and manufactures aircraft electronics and precision weapons targeting systems.

According to Kashin, the St. Petersburg-based holding company belongs to the family of Pskov Region Governor Andrei Turchak. Its chief executive is Alexander Gorbunov, who, according to Veselov and Kavtaskin, organized their trip to Moscow where they attacked Kashin.

Veselov and Kavtaskin were charged on June 24 and 25, respectively, while Borisov is on the federal wanted list.

Kashin, who had harshly criticized the authorities, the president and the government, was severely beaten in the early hours of November 6, 2010. He was hospitalized in serious condition with a broken jaw, shin and several fingers. The same day, then President Dmitry Medvedev instructed Prosecutor General Yury Chaika and Interior Minister Rasheed Nurgaliyev to take the investigation under direct control and do everything necessary to solve the crime.

Kashin’s colleagues explained the attack with his professional interest in sociopolitical issues.