Yesterday the Avtozavodsky district court conducted a preliminary hearing under the criminal case against Nizhny Novgorod police officers charged with police abuse and seriously injuring Stanislav Lebedev.

During the hearing the defense filed a series of motions to include additional documents into the case file, question some witnesses and render some evidence inadmissible.

Judge Vladimir Vinnitsky dismissed part of the motions as premature. The motion asking the court to include the materials of the public investigation conducted by INGO “Committee against Torture” under Mr. Lebedev’s application into the criminal case file was sustained.

The trial on the merits will start on 9 February 2010 at 10 a.m.