MOSCOW, November 20 (RAPSI) - The former bankruptcy commissioner of several Russia’s Rosneft subsidiaries Oleg Smetanin, who stands charged with embezzling more than 300 million rubles ($4.5 million), has filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), his lawyer Eduard Geraskin has told RAPSI.

Smetanin has complained against his continuous detention, placing in a metallic cage during court hearings, delay in consideration of appeals against extension of his detention and non-recognition of the fact that the charges are related to business activities, according to the lawyer.

The ECHR has already accepted the application, Geraskin added.

In December 2013, a court declared Rosneft subsidiary Nizhnevartovskneftegaz bankrupt with Smetanin being appointed as a temporary manager of the company. In 2014, a debt of 3.5 billion rubles ($53.3 million) was added to the company’s creditors demands list. Investigators believe the documents related to the debt have been forged.

According to investigators, Smetanin and other defendant in the case Sergey Bogdanov have forged some documents; as a result, a paper debt amounting to 3.2 billion rubles (about $ 50 million) has been registered with the Rosneft subsidiary. According to Russia’s Interior Ministry press-service, the defendants have used the forged documents to transfer 300 million rubles ($4.5 million) to the accounts of a dummy company. The money was allegedly cashed out and stolen.

Smetanin has pleaded not guilty.