Roizman* suddenly appeared at the trial of a former police officer accused of murders.

      Former Yekaterinburg mayor Yevgeny Roizman* (*designated by the Russian Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent) on the eve, on September 2, came to the court in the case of 55-year-old Anton Borovik, accused of murders as part of a gang in the 1990s, URA.RU reports.

      Roizman* unexpectedly came to support Borovik, Elena Afanasyeva, the lawyer of the defendant who is a former militiaman, told URA.RU. In his book "City Without Drugs" the former head of the eponymous Foundation wrote about Sobol, Kotik and other law-enforcement officers who were part of the gang.

      "He supported our client. He described how Sobol and Kotik were selling drugs straight from the windows of the department at ZhBI. He is convinced of Borovik's innocence. He did not give any official testimony," Afanasyeva told URA.RU.

      In the 1990s the accused Borovik worked in the Kirov district police department. At the time of his arrest he held the position of head of the department for real estate transactions of the Yekaterinburg Administration. He was detained a quarter of a century later on suspicion of involvement in murders committed as part of a gang of policemen.

      Other former policemen were arrested with him — Konstantin Kotik, Vladimir Semenyuk, and the former head of the department for combating illegal drug trafficking Vladislav Sobol.

      According to the Investigative Committee, the group is accused of 11 murders. Borovik denies guilt and believes he was framed by Kotik and Sobol, who made a deal with the prosecution. They are all currently being tried in different district courts of Yekaterinburg.

      The gang's organizer Vladislav Sobol was sentenced in 2006 to 15 years for heroin trafficking and was released on parole. He is now charged with murders. He faces up to 20 years in a penal colony.