VLADIVOSTOK, July 26 - RAPSI. The Pacific Fleet Military Court has scheduled the first jury hearing to reconsider the accident on the Nerpa nuclear submarine for August 17, defense attorney Dmitry Prokopenko told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

On July 19, the court ruled the case should be reconsidered by jurors.

The Nerpa submarine had been conducting sea trials in the Sea of Japan (the East Sea) on November 8, 2008, when its freon-based fire-extinguishing system activated. The freon gas started to displace the breathable air in the submarine. Of the 208 on board, 20 were killed and 21 were hospitalized with toxication.

Investigators brought charges against Capt. Dmitry Lavrentyev and Petty Officer Dmitry Grobov. The hearing was held behind closed doors. The Pacific Fleet Military Tribunal acquitted Lavrentyev and Grobov on October 14, 2011. On May 3, 2012, the Supreme Court reversed the decision.

The acquittal passed by the military court caused a mixed reaction amongst the public. It was reported that the relatives of the deceased were angry, while Larionov and Grobov's colleagues approved of the decision, believing that investigators had simply been looking for someone on whom to place the blame.

In March this year, the Nerpa submarine was leased by Russia to the Indian Navy for ten years.