MOSCOW, September 4 (RAPSI) – A Deputy Prosecutor of Russia’s Primorye approved indictment against two attorneys charged with perverting the course of justice, who had defended ex-mayor of Vladivostok Igor Pushkarev in a bribery case, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office told RAPSI on Friday.

The case is to be sent to court for hearing.

According to the investigation, during the trial of Pushkarev and his accomplices, the lawyers attempted to obstruct justice using illegal methods and ways. They attempted to influence through foul means and threats a representative of a victim, whose testimony uncovered the defendants, inducing him not to testify against Pushkarev.

Moreover, the accused lawyers put pressure on a representative of a victim through the Vladivostok administration’s officials. However, they could not win them round, the statement reads.

In April 2019, Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court sentenced Pushkarev to 15 years in a high-security prison for receiving bribes, abuse of power and graft. He was also fined 500 million rubles ($7.2 million at the current exchange rate) and barred from holding authority posts for 10 years.

Moreover, the court recovered 143 million rubles from Pushkarev in favor of “Roads of Vladivostok” granting the company’s suit.