The Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the Moscow City Court of transfer the director general of the European Surrogacy Center Vladislav Melnikov and three other defendants in the child trafficking case from SIZO to house arrest, reports RIA Novosti with reference to the press service court.
“The panel of judges decided: to overturn the decision of the Moscow City Court. Extend the preventive measure in the form of the detention of Panaioti Lilia, Ivanova Yuliana, Ashitkov Taras and Melnikov Vladislav for a period of three months. They were taken into custody in the courtroom, “the agency told the press service.
In January 2020, the body of a baby was found in the urban district of Odintsovo. In the apartment, investigators found three more children born to surrogate mothers. The birth parents of the babies turned out to be foreign citizens. The newborns were in the apartment under the supervision of a nanny while the documents were being prepared for their export abroad. The children were abducted and taken to the hospital.
Investigating authorities have opened a case for negligent death and human trafficking. According to them, in 2014-2020, the heads and employees of two commercial organizations, with the participation of employees of private medical centers, provided services to surrogate mothers for a fee, in violation of the legislation of the Federation of Russia. Eight people were arrested in July 2020.
In July 2021, the Moscow City Court decided to transfer four of the defendants who had spent a year in the pre-trial detention center under house arrest. But the Court of Appeal changed the measure of duress from house arrest to detention.
Earlier, Sputnik radio reported that a man was detained in Moscow, who threw his two-year-old son out of an apartment
