MOSCOW, May 3 - RAPSI. The corruption case against former Chief Military Physician Alexander Belevitin and his deputy Alexei Nikitin may be heard behind closed doors.

Nikitin has applied to hold the trial in private during the preliminary hearing on Thursday.

Investigators believe that Belevitin and Nikitin accepted about 7 million rubles ($238,000) in bribes for acting as intermediaries in concluding medical equipment supply contracts for the Defense Ministry worth over 187 million rubles ($6.4 million).

According to an expert estimate, the equipment was purchased at inflated prices, which resulted in more than 51 million ruble ($1.7 million) losses for the government.
Belevitin and Nikitin have been charged with abuse of office and conjoint large-scale bribe taking. Both face up to 10 years in jail.

The investigation with roughly 100 interrogations and 30 expert appraisals lasted for 10 months.

The Moscow District Military Court will hold another preliminary hearing on May 5 and is expected to schedule its review of the case.