A deputy head of the Moscow Region investigation department has been dismissed over a suspect's death at a pre-trial detention center, the Russian Investigation Committee said on Tuesday.
Vera Trifonova, 53, a director of a real estate company, charged with attempting to sell a seat in the Russian parliament, died of heart failure on April 30 in the hospital wing of the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention facility.
The businesswoman, who had been awaiting trial since December, was sent to the hospital diagnosed with diabetes and chronic kidney failure. There were no signs of violent death, investigators said.
Investigators accuse Alexander Filippov of failing to maintain control over the protection of inmates' rights in prison, the Committee said. The head of the Moscow Region investigation department, Andrei Markov, has received a service incompetence note.
Another Moscow Region investigator, Sergei Pysin, also faces charges of criminal negligence in connection with the incident. Penalties may reach a maximum prison term of five years.
Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin has ordered an enquiry into the quality of medical services provided by doctors in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention facility.
A lawyer for the wheelchair-bound Trifonova, Vladimir Zherebenkov, said the defense earlier asked to release her from custody due to her poor health, but jail officials said she was able to withstand the conditions of the ward.
Russian President Dimitry Medvedev ordered on Saturday a full investigation into the death of the businesswoman.
Trifonova, who headed KitElitNedvizhimost real estate agency, was alleged to have attempted to sell a State Duma seat to Pavel Razumov, a board chairman of MFT-Bank, for $1.5 million.
According to investigators, Trifonova and her accomplice Georgy Shamiryan, a former deputy of the Magadan Regional Duma, promised the banker to lobby his interests to get the seat in the Russian parliament, but instead they decided to steal the money.
MOSCOW, May 4 (RIA Novosti)
