Prosecutors accuse Igor Trunov, who is defending a key suspect in Central Bank Deputy Chairman Alexei Kozlov's September 13 contract-style killing, of disclosing facts concerning the indictment of his client, businessman Alexei Frenkel, and other sensitive information related to the probe.
"We will try to have Trunov stripped of his professional status for disclosing confidential information pending investigation," the source said.
Frenkel was detained last Thursday on suspicion of ordering Kozlov's murder, and was formally charged earlier this week. He is the former head of one of the private banks shut down as part of an anti-money laundering campaign by the Central Bank, where Kozlov was in charge of licensing.
According to the source, Trunov told the press last Friday that the indictment against Frenkel is based exclusively on testimony from another suspect arrested in connection with the case, Liana Askerova.
The lawyer dismissed the prosecution's accusations as groundless and aimed at pressuring him.
"The statement by the Prosecutor General's Office about the leaking of information related to the case is absolutely unfounded. It cannot be qualified as anything other than pressure," Trunov told RIA Novosti.
"[My] remarks on Askerova came a day before I was made to sign a confidentiality agreement," he said. "I have not taken part in any of the procedures. The only document I have seen is the indictment against Frenkel. Evidence in the case will not be shown to me until after the investigation is over."
