The city court thereby upheld the prosecution's appeal against the Zamoskvoretsky District Court's decision in the case against Yevgeny Adamov, 67, charged with embezzlement and abuse of office. Prosecutors demanded that the case should instead be sent for retrial in the district court.
The Prosecutor General's Office said the Zamoskvoretsky court's decision on Adamov, who served from 1998 to 2001 as Russia's nuclear power minister, was unfounded and unlawful, and demanded its annulment and a retrial with different judges.
Viktor Antipov, the state prosecutor in the case, earlier said the defense team had read the indictment as far back as the preliminary examination and never applied for any clarification.
"The court in effect took the defense team's side ahead of hearings on the merits of the case," Antipov said.
Prosecutors said Adamov was the head of an organized criminal group that inflicted damage worth over 3 billion rubles (about $110 million) on the Russian budget, enterprises and organizations.
Adamov was originally arrested in Switzerland in May 2005 at the request of the United States, where authorities accuse him of misappropriating $9 million given to Russia for nuclear safety projects. If convicted in the U.S., Adamov would have faced 60 years in prison.
He was extradited to Russia in early 2006 to face charges, but was released by the Russian Supreme Court July 21 after a total of 15 months in prison to await trial.
