MOSCOW, October 16 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court has upheld a lower court’s ruling to arrest in absentia for ex-Director of the WADA-accredited Moscow Laboratory Gregory Rodchenkov, charged with abuse of office, RAPSI learnt from the court's press-service on Monday.

Ruling of the Basmanny District Court came into force.

In May 2016, The New York Times published an article citing Rodchenkov, who maintained that at least 15 Russian athletes winning gold medals in Sochi were involved in a Russian “doping program” aimed to dominate its home Olympics.

Earlier, the Investigative Committee of Russia announced that Rodchenkov, who had fled to the U.S., was unlawfully selling prohibited medicines and deliberately destroyed doping tests of Russian athletes.

On March 29, the Moscow City Court overturned the ruling of a lower court ordering the seizure of property belonging to Rodchenkov.