ST. PETERSBURG, September 4 - RAPSI. On Monday, St. Petersburg's Nevsky District Court extended the detention of nationalist and renowned mixed martial artist Vyacheslav Datsik for three months, Datsik's attorney Andrei Fedorkov told RIA Novosti. Datsik is accused of robbery and committing arson in a church.

As a professional fighter, Datsik was widely known as "Red Tarzan." He has pleaded not guilty to the crimes he is charged with, which are punishable by up to 10 years in prison. His alleged accomplice in the arson, Pavel Stepanov, has also pleaded innocent to the charges.

During the hearing on Monday, the former athlete submitted an application for bail worth one million rubles ($30,980).

"His custody was extended until March 5 and our application for his release on bail was dismissed," Fedorkov said.

Datsik was arrested in Russia in 2007 and accused of stealing mobile phones from shops in St. Petersburg. Psychiatrists declared him schizophrenic, absolving him of criminal liability for the robberies. He later escaped from the mental institution where he was treated.

In September 2010, Datsik was detained with a loaded handgun while seeking asylum in an Oslo immigration office. In late December, a Norwegian court sentenced him to eight months in jail for illegal arms possession.

He was deported to Russia for prosecution in March 2011. A psychiatric examination conducted last November found Datsik to be sane.

Datsik is reported to be a member of the Slavic Union ultranationalist movement, which is banned in Russia but reportedly has an office in Norway.