The court appeal of Azerbaijani citizens Akhliman Ganjiev, Aziz Abbasov, Shahin Lalaev, and Akif Safarov—who are accused of a series of crimes committed in Yekaterinburg, Russia—has been considered.

The defendants’ lawyers had filed an appeal of the decision of a Russian first-instance court, requesting that house arrest be set as their pretrial measure, according to Azerbaijani media.

After reviewing the case materials, however, the Sverdlovsk regional court upheld the aforementioned first-instance court’s decision.

On October 16, the Yekaterinburg District Court had extended the pretrial detention of the aforementioned Azerbaijani citizens until December 29.