YEKATERINBURG, July 18 — The defense team for Mutvaly Shykhlynski, the son of the head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia’s Ural region, has filed an appeal against his arrest, attorney Pavel Korobov told RBC.
According to Korobov, the court’s pre-trial detention ruling was based solely on the gravity of the charge — assaulting a law enforcement officer — without presenting evidence that Shykhlynski might flee, destroy evidence, or obstruct the investigation.
“In our view, these procedural violations are substantial and warrant the cancellation of the court’s decision,” Korobov said.
The Sverdlovsk Regional Court press service confirmed it had received the appeal from Shykhlynski’s lawyer.
Shykhlynski was detained on July 15 and placed in pre-trial detention until September 14. The hearing was held behind closed doors. He is accused under Article 318 of Russia’s Criminal Code — use of violence against a public official.
The charges stem from an incident earlier this month near the Baku Plaza shopping center in Yekaterinburg. According to investigators, law enforcement agents were attempting to detain Shykhlynski’s father, Shahin Shykhlynski, who was in a Mercedes G-Class vehicle driven by his son. During the attempted detention, the younger Shykhlynski allegedly struck an FSB officer with the car door while trying to leave the scene.
Shahin Shykhlynski was questioned and later released. He is considered a witness in a separate criminal case involving the Safarov brothers — a high-profile investigation into a string of murders and attempted murders in Yekaterinburg between 2001 and 2011.
Mutvaly Shykhlynski holds a license to practice law. Under Russian law, criminal proceedings against a licensed attorney require authorization from the head of the regional Investigative Committee and approval from the supervising prosecutor.
