MOSCOW, January 28 - RAPSI. The Moscow City Court refused to summon Vladimir Markin, official spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee, for questioning in relation to the murder of ex-colonel Yury Budanov, the court told RAPSI.

Judge Andrei Korotkov refused to summon Markin, stating that since he was not an eyewitness of the murder, he would therefore be unable to bring any new evidence to the court.

The defendant's lawyer Murad Musayev, who requested a testimony from Markin, explained that at a news conference after the murder, Markin had said that the driver of the murderer's car was of Slavic appearance. As it was later revealed, the murderer himself was behind the steering wheel.

The defense sought to question Markin so that he could describe the murderer's appearance in court. The prosecutor objected to the request and her objection was upheld by the court.

Budanov was killed in June 2011 as he was leaving a notary office in central Moscow. The investigation found that Temerkhanov, the defendant in the trial, fired eight shots. The investigation believes that Temerkhanov wanted to take revenge for the killing of his father in Chechnya in 2000 and had chosen Budanov as his victim for this.

Budanov had been involved in a high-profile case of war crimes in Chechnya.

In July 2003, the military court found Budanov guilty of abuse of authority and abducting and killing a young Chechen woman named Elza Kungayeva. He was sentenced to ten years in a penal colony with maximum security. Budanov was also deprived of his military rank and awards. In January 2009 he was released on parole.