The trial of Sergei Furgal, the former governor of the Far Eastern Khabarovsk region whose arrest in 2020 sparked months of protests in the region, has opened in a Russian court.
The trial began in a court in Lyubertsy on May 11. Furgal is charged with attempted murder and ordering two killings in 2004 and 2005.
Furgal and others charged in the case reiterated statements rejecting any involvement in the attempted murder and contract killings. Furgal and his supporters insist that the case against him is politically motivated. He faces a life sentence if convicted.
Furgal, a member of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, was elected in 2018 in a runoff that he won handily against the region's longtime incumbent from the Kremlin-backed ruling United Russia party.
His arrest on July 9, 2020, sparked mass protests in Khabarovsk Krai's capital, Khabarovsk, and several other towns and cities in the region.
The protests were held almost daily for many months, highlighting growing discontent in the Far East over what demonstrators see as Moscow-dominated policies that often neglect their views and interests.