Russia’s Novgorod Regional Court dismissed appeals by attorneys of Novgorod entrepreneur Telman Mkhitaryan on extending Mkhitaryan’s term of imprisonment by 2 months.
As reported by BaltInfo, Mkhitaryan will be kept behind bars till Feb. 22, 2011 — for a total of 5 months and 28 days.
Recall that in 2008, a criminal case was launched against Telman Mkhitaryan and Nikolai Kravchenko, two notorious leaders of Novgorod’s criminal underworld, who were charged with large-scale extortion.
In 2009, Mkhitaryan was placed on an international “most wanted” list. In Aug. 2010, Mkhitaryan was caught in Yerevan, Armenia, and on Oct. 22, he was extradited to Russia.
Mkhitaryan headed several companies, most notably the Novgorod Glass Fiber Factory, and controlled a considerable section of the Russian region’s economy. Long considered Novgorod’s “shadow” leader, Mkhitaryan received many awards and was even bestowed the title of honorary citizen of Velikiy (“Great”) Novgorod by the city’s administration.