A New York judge on Friday set February 28, 2011, as the start date for the trial on drug smuggling charges of a Russian pilot detained in Liberia and transferred to the United States.
New York prosecutors on June 2 announced the arrest in Monrovia of Konstantin Yaroshenko is accused of airlifting of thousands of kilograms of cocaine throughout South America, Africa and Europe.
Federal District Judge Jed Rakoff gave the defense until October 13 to prepare any motions.
Yaroshenko's lawyer, Lee Ginsburg, said the defense would table three motions on the illegality of prosecuting Yaroshenko in the United States.
According to the schedule set by the court, the prosecution has until 27 October to present arguments in response to any defense motions, with the defense given a further week to give counter-arguments.
Pre-trial oral arguments will then be held on November 10.
In setting the trial date, Rakoff had to balance the requests of the defense and prosecution.
The prosecution argued they needed an extra month because of technical and legal difficulties in obtaining information from computers, mobile phones and SIM cards belonging to the accused, which includes four Liberian citizens in addition to Yaroshenko.
Federal prosecutor Jan Debbs said one of the three computers was not covered by the search warrant that was issued against the accused, and there were difficulties transcribing the suspects' phone conversations due to heavily-accented English.
The defense asked for two more months to review prosecution documents, citing problems getting acquainted with the records of telephone conversations due to long queues for the computers in the detention center.
Yaroshenko, 41, was detained in the Liberian capital of Monrovia in late May but his arrest was only announced by New York prosecutors on June 2.
The Russian Foreign Ministry blasted the United States over the detention, saying it was practically a kidnapping and a violation of international law.
"The Russian side is convinced that such activities directly violate the relevant norms of international law, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963, and the bilateral Consular Convention of 1964," the ministry said in a statement. "This is practically the kidnapping of a Russian citizen on the territory of a third country," it said.
Yaroshenko and other alleged members of the cocaine trafficking group have denied all charges. If they are convicted, they may face from 10 years imprisonment to life sentences.
NEW YORK, 13 August (RIA Novosti)
