TARASCON (France), October 30 - RAPSI. A French court has refused the request submitted by Irina Belenkaya's husband to postpone the trial against her and to hold the trial behind closed doors.

Belenkaya appeared before the Tarascon court on Tuesday where her child kidnapping case is being heard. She allegedly kidnapped her daughter in November 2007 when she left France after separating with her husband, and then once again in November 2009.

In March 2009, her French husband Jean-Michel Andre was beaten and her daughter was kidnapped. Investigators believe that she was involved in the assault. Belenkaya attempted to take her daughter back to Russia, but the two were detained shortly thereafter in Hungary.

Jean-Michel Andre asked to postpone the hearing, stating that he does not have the funds to pay for an attorney because the hearings will be held not long before his divorce trial. Thus, he said it will be difficult for him to duly prepare.

He also asked to hold the hearings behind closed doors in the interests of his seven-year-old daughter. The prosecutor and the court denied his requests. As for postponing the hearing, he was told that the divorce and the kidnapping trials are not intertwined, and he can represent himself without an attorney.