MOSCOW, February 5 - RAPSI. The attorneys of Yusup Temerkhanov accused of murdering former Colonel Yuri Budanov could not provide complete evidence in the Moscow City Court after a witness failed to appear before the court, the court told RAPSI on Tuesday.

The next hearing has been scheduled for February 6.

Attorney Murad Musayev, who represents the suspect Yusup Temerkhanov, said he needs to question witness Alexander Yevtukhov in the presence of a jury to provide complete evidence in the case. Yevtukhov, who is under state protection, could not be reached. The victim's widow also needs to give testimony in court, Musayev said.

Judge Andrei Korotkov said he sent a request regarding Yevtukhov's whereabouts to the Moscow Investigative Committee, but has yet to receive a response. Earlier, Musayev told the court that witnesses in the case are afraid to attend the court hearings.

When the judge asked why Yevtukhov was afraid, Musayev said he should ask him directly.

Earlier, Yevtukhov disappeared under suspicious circumstances on his way to court. He later appeared in court to give testimony in the case, but refused to answer questions about his alleged kidnapping.

Yevtukhov testified that Temerkhanov did not look like the man who killed Budanov, and that the killer was a man of Slavic appearance who was shorter than Temerkhanov.

Yevtukhov also filed two complaints, claiming that the defendant's lawyers threatened him and he had received 100,000 rubles ($3,300) from them. After his claim was filed, the court announced a recess until January 28.

Investigators believe Temerkhanov planned to commit a murder after his father was killed in Chechnya in 2000. They suspect that he picked Budanov as his victim because the colonel had been tried for kidnapping and murdering Chechen Elza Kungayeva in 2000.

Budanov was convicted of war crimes in Chechnya in July 2003. A military court found him guilty of abuse of power in connection with Kungayeva's kidnapping and murder. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and deprived of his rank, medals, and the opportunity to hold official positions for three years after his release. In January 2009, he was released on parole. In June 2011, Budanov was shot dead as he walked out of a notary office in Moscow.