St. Petersburg Businessman Ilya Traber Released From Detention – Fontanka
The businessman still faces charges of organized murder and arms trafficking, local media reported.
Russian authorities have released prominent St. Petersburg businessman Ilya Traber from pre-trial detention, according to the news outlet Fontanka. The decision to free Traber, who is 75 years old, was reportedly made due to a significant deterioration in his health. Despite his release, Traber still faces charges of organized murder and arms trafficking.
He was arrested in mid-June and held in pre-trial detention. Traber is accused of hiring two individuals to assassinate businessman and politician Alexander Petrov in 2020. Traber's connection to Russian President Vladimir Putin dates back to the 1990s, when Putin was serving as the St. Petersburg mayor. In 2011, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Traber met with Putin during that time to discuss an oil terminal project.
Traber, who built a shipping and port business in northwestern Russia during the 1990s, reportedly relinquished ownership stakes in four major companies while in detention. The Moscow Times has been designated as an "undesirable organization" by Russia's Prosecutor General's Office, which has labeled the newspaper as foreign agent and criminalized its work.
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