Investigators from the Russian Investigative Committee released businessman Ilya Traber, a longtime acquaintance of President Vladimir Putin, from Moscow's Lefortovo pretrial detention center on the evening of August 27, according to the St. Petersburg outlet Fontanka. The decision came after a sharp deterioration in the health of the 75-year-old defendant, the outlet reported, noting that the charges against him have not been dropped.
Traber left Lefortovo at approximately 7 p.m. and headed to St. Petersburg, Fontanka reported. A source close to the businessman confirmed to the outlet Agentstvo that his release took place in the afternoon and that Traber was being driven to St. Petersburg by car.
Traber had been in custody since June 17, when Moscow's Basmanny District Court ordered his arrest for two months. On August 13, the court extended his detention by the same period. He is charged with murder committed by an organized group for mercenary motives and illegal weapons trafficking by an organized group.
The charges relate to the killing of Alexander Petrov, a municipal deputy of the Vyborgsky District of the Leningrad Region, in the fall of 2020. Petrov was shot from the opposite bank of a river while on the grounds of his cottage near Vyborg. Four people have been detained in connection with the case.
Russian media have linked Traber to the criminal underworld. His business interests centered on St. Petersburg's city ports: in the 1990s he controlled the Petersburg Oil Terminal and was acquainted with Vladimir Putin, then a city hall official. In 2016, Spain put Traber on its wanted list in connection with a case involving the "Russian mafia."