MOSCOW, January 21 - RAPSI, Maria Petrova. The Moscow City Court has refused to hear the appeal filed by lawyer Igor Trunov on behalf of his clients, the family of Olga Aleksandrina, who died in a car accident involving the vehicle of a LUKoil vice-president, the law firm Trunov, Aivar and Partners said on its website on Monday.

Trunov writes in his appeal that the government failed to address within due time the drafting of a bill regulating the legal proceedings for cases involving the death of defendants.

Trunov had reported on his website that he had filed a lawsuit against Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev requesting the authorities to draft the bill. He said that he had filed a complaint related to the high-profile case with the government in October.

Investigators place the responsibility for the car accident on Aleksandrina.

Trunov claimed he initiated the case at the Presnensky District Court in Moscow because the authorities had done nothing to draft the bill.

On November 21, 2012, the district court refused to hear his complaint, following which he sent his appeal to the Moscow City Court.
According to his law firm, the Moscow City Court has posted information about its refusal to hear the case on its website.

Trunov plans to appeal to the European Court in Strasbourg and is also drawing up a complaint against the judges for filing with the Supreme Qualification Board of Judges and the Council of Judges of Russia.

Trunov has said that the Constitutional Court established that the provisions of the Criminal Procedural Code prohibiting trials if the defendant is dead do not correspond with the law.

He said that these cases were previously archived, but following the above Constitutional Court ruling, the government was obliged to draft amendments to the law within three months.

The lawyer stated that 15 months after the ruling, the authorities still have not taken up the issue.

A car accident involving a LUKoil vice-president occurred in Moscow on February 25, 2010. Renowned doctors Vera Sidelnikova and Aleksandrina died in the crash.
LUKoil Vice-President Anatoly Barkov only received minor injuries.

The accident sparked a public outcry, as many believed the executive was responsible. In 2010, investigators concluded that Aleksandrina was liable for the accident. However, Aleksandrina's family have disputed the ruling. The investigation was reopened in July 2011, following the Constitutional Court's consideration of their application.