MOSCOW, December 12 - RAPSI. Two individuals accused of kidnapping the son of entrepreneur Yevgeny Kaspersky have pleaded partially guilty, the Moscow Khoroshevsky District Court, which began considering the criminal case on Tuesday, told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com).

During the preliminary hearings, which are being held behind closed doors, the two defendants - Oleg Mayukov and Semyon Gromov - pleaded partially guilty, their attorneys stated.

They said that the defendants will announce their official position themselves during the first consideration of the case, which will take place on December 25.
The court dismissed the lawyers' motion to have the case sent back to the prosecutor so as to rectify procedural violations, and extended the two defendants' arrest by six months.

Semyon Gromov, Oleg Mayukov, Nikolay Savelyev and his son are all defendants in the case.

The investigation established that Nikolay Savelyev and his son Nikolay, Sergei Gromov, Oleg Mayukov and Alexei Ustimchuk followed the CEO's 20-year-old son Ivan Kaspersky in March 2011.

They found out where he studied and worked, and also mapped out his daily schedule. They then decided to kidnap the young man in the Moscow district of Strogino.
The Investigative Committee reported that the suspects grabbed the young man on April 19, 2011, threw him into their car, and handcuffed and blindfolded him. Then they drove him to an undisclosed location in the Moscow Region, where he was held until his release on April 24, 2011.

After speaking with his parents, the kidnappers agreed to prove that the young man was still in good health. The Savelyevs and Ustimchuk were arrested later that same day. Gromov was detained earlier.

Three of the men had prior convictions. A criminal case has been opened against them on charges of kidnapping and extortion, they face up to 15 years in prison.

Kaspersky Lab is the leading Russian developer of anti-virus protection, spam and hacker attacks. It is one of the five leading developer of software for data protection from Internet threats.