Nalchik Court rules prosecution of officials in Kabardino-Balkaria for abuse is illegal

Nalchik City Court has declared illegal the prosecution for abuse of power of the former office director of the head of Kabardino-Balkaria, Vladimir Zhamborov, former Minister of State Property and Land of Kabardino-Balkaria, Habdulsalam Ligidov, and his deputy, Ruslan Zhamborov, their lawyer Ruslan Koblev told RAPSI on Monday."Today, the court upheld the complaint of one of the defendants in the case and invalidated the initiation of proceedings under the "abuse of power" accusation, RIA News quotes the lawyer.At the same time, he said, the former officials are still charged with "fraud" for allegedly trying to sell the building of the Republican Philharmonic.According to the Interior Ministry, the businesswoman and fashion designer Madina Hatsukova, using family ties in the leadership of the Republic, tried to aquire the State Philharmonic building (over 500 square meters), located on a central street in Nalchik. Its market value today is estimated to be worth more than 20 million rubles. According to the investigation, the officer ordered the building to be privatized for a much lower price of one million rubles. The accused then organized a group, and on April 17, 2012 sold the building to Hatsukova without an auction, the investigators say.