MOSCOW, October 3 (RAPSI) – Attorney Alexander Karabanov, who is representing victims in a case against the Orekhovo criminal ring at the Moscow Region Court, has been given police protection after his colleague's murder, TASS reported on Friday.

Karabanov did not attend the hearing because he was out of the city. He worked on the case jointly with Tatyana Akimtseva, who was shot and killed on September 12.  “Karabanov is deeply involved in this case, which is why he asked for police protection after Akimtseva’s murder,” his colleague Alexander Sergeyev told the press.

Sergeyev and other members of the victims’ defense team do not intend to request protection. “I’m not involved in the case as deeply [as Karabanov] and so don’t fear for my life,” he said.

Akimtseva represented the interests of victims in the high-profile case of the Orekhovo criminal ring, famed Russian pop singers Filipp Kirkorov and Kristina Orbakaite, figure skating star Evgeny Plushenko and producer Yana Rudkovskaya.

Akimtseva was also on the defense team of the former security chief of Russian oil giant Yukos, Alexei Pichugin, who was sentenced to 20 years in jail for murder and attempted murder.

In aftermath of her murder, Russian lawyers proposed an amendment to the Criminal Code, to up the liability for endangering attorneys in the line of duty.