MOSCOW, April 6 (RAPSI) – The sixteen defendants in a criminal case over violent clashes, involving large numbers of people, at the Khovansky cemetery in Moscow began reading case documents, RAPSI learnt on Thursday in the Investigative Committee’s press-service.

On March 28, investigators brought final charges against defendants in the criminal case.

In May 2016, about 200 people were involved in fights at the largest cemetery of Moscow with three people dying from injuries and 112 being detained. According to investigators, the conflict behind these fights is related to competition for the cemetery’s service market.

Overall, there are sixteen defendants in this case, including head of one of the territorial directorates for ritual services in Moscow “Ritual” Yury Tchabuyev, police officer Nikita Moshenko and alleged organizer of clashes Alexander Bocharnikov. Depending on their alleged roles in the fights defendants are charged with organization of riots, participation in riots, infliction of grave harm to a person resulted in death and abuse of office leading to grave consequences.

Investigators believe that Tchabuyev and Bocharnikov organized the clashes in order to drive away immigrants from the cemetery by force. One of the defendants has admitted guilt in full and testified against alleged accomplices.