MOSCOW, September 15 (RAPSI) – The defense team for journalist Oleg Kashin, who was severely beaten in November 2010, has filed a motion with the Prosecutor General’s Office to request that Kashin’s case be transferred from the Investigative Committee to the Federal Security Service (FSB), Kommersant newspaper has reported. 

Kashin wrote in his blog that he considers his case solved. He wrote that he was attacked by Danila Veselov, Vyacheslav Borisov and Mikhail Kavtaskin, all of them employed at 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 allegedly assaulted Kashin.

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

Kommersant writes that the motion to transfer the case to the FSB was submitted on September 14. According the motion, Kashin also plans to accuse Gorbunov of several crimes: treason, intention to kill, weapons possession, and embezzlement of budgetary funds.

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. Kashin’s colleagues said the attack was due to his professional interest in sociopolitical issues.