MOSCOW, October 29 (RAPSI) - On Tuesday, lawyer Sergei Kadyrov said in the the Meshchansky District Court that he filed an appeal with the Investigative Committee against the guards who have beaten Bolshoi Ballet leading soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko accused of having organized an acid attack against the ballet's artistic director Sergei Filin.

On October 18, Kadyrov claimed that after the hearing was over, three policemen wearing masks took him to the waiting room, and then assaulted Dmitrichenko without any reason. The marks left after the beating were noted by the doctor in the pre-trial detention center where Dmitrichenko is being held.

Filin suffered third-degree burns to his face and eyes on January 17 when unknown assailants attacked him with what is believed to have been concentrated acid. Shortly after the attack, a Bolshoi Theater spokesperson confirmed that Filin had received various threats.

Filin returned to Moscow last September after six months of treatment in a German hospital. He has undergone more than 20 eye surgeries, and German doctors said that Filins eyesight had improved significantly. After losing over 90 percent of his vision in his left eye and becoming totally blind in his right eye, Filin now has 80 percent of his left eye vision restored and can distinguish big objects with his right eye.

Filin suggested that the aim of the attack may have been to remove him from his position as artistic director and to destroy the prestigious Moscow ballet company's reputation.

Three men were arrested in March in connection with the attack, including Dmitrichenko, the alleged attacker Yury Zarutsky and driver Andrei Lipatov. All of them face 12 years in prison if convicted.

The hearing on the merits began in the Meshchansky District Court on Tuesday. Dmitrichenko pleaded not guilty to acid attack.

The hearings of the case will continue on October 31.