MOSCOW, April 15 - RAPSI. More people were held in pretrial detention in Moscow in 2012 than is permissible by prison regulations for the first time in three years, Moscow Government Commissioner for Human Rights Alexander Muzykantsky said on Monday.

"People remain in pretrial detention for one or two years," he said at a meeting of the Moscow City Duma Commission on Social Policies and Labor Relations. "There was an incredible case when a suspect waited five years for a trial."

Muzykantsky said Moscow courts use detention as a preventive measure too often. He added that he received 3,035 written and 1,330 oral complaints last year.

"A positive solution was found in 8.2% of these complaints, which is less than in 2011, when the figure was 13.5%," the ombudsman said.