MOSCOW, October 12 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) – The Moscow City Court has overturned seizure of assets owned by the Kirov region ex-governor Nikita Belykh, who stands accused of taking a large scale bribe, RAPSI learnt in the court’s press service.

The court ruled to remand the case for a new trial.

Earlier, attorney Vadim Prokhorov told RAPSI that a lower court had ordered seizure of a land plot, one third of Belykh family’s apartment and other property acquired long before the defendant’s assignment to position of governor. Therefore, items of property could not be considered as assets gained through crime.

Belykh has been officially charged with taking EUR 400,000 in bribes. Investigators in cooperation with the Federal Security Service’s (FSB) officers arrested him on June 24 in a Moscow restaurant while he was allegedly accepting EUR 150,000, the third part of the bribe, according to Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin. Moscow’s Basmanny District Court ordered detention of Belykh.

The defendant has pleaded not guilty.

On July 28, President Vladimir Putin removed Belykh from his post of governor because of loss of trust.