Detained on charges of “evading the army,” the goalkeeper of the Russian national hockey team and Moscow CSKA Ivan Fedotov is in a naval hospital in St. Petersburg in serious condition. Alexey Ponomarev, Fedotov's lawyer, told the Match TV channel about this.
“Judging by the last connection with him, he does not feel very well. He says that he was given some kind of injections, which he does not know, he was told that this was prescribed by a doctor. He doesn't look very good. I can’t compare with yesterday’s condition, but he looks like a typical sick person, ”said Ponomarev.
Fedotov was detained in St. Petersburg at the request of the prosecutor's office on Friday, June 1. In the military registration and enlistment office, the athlete's health worsened and he was taken away by ambulance to the 1st Naval Hospital. Neither a lawyer nor parents are allowed to see him. “As far as I understand, they want to transfer him in a serious condition to some kind of military investigative body. While he argues as best he can that this is not necessary, but events are developing rapidly, now he is not getting in touch, ”said the hockey player’s lawyer.
What will happen to him next, “it is difficult to predict yet,” the lawyer says. After his arrest, he was taken to the city military registration and enlistment office in St. Petersburg, but he is registered with the military in Moscow, and lives in Vsevolozhsk. “That is, he has nothing to do with the city military registration and enlistment office,” the lawyer says.
“Also yesterday, information about his presence there was hidden in every possible way, despite the fact that he had a telephone and he informed his relatives that he was there. The employees of the military commissariat were informed that a complaint had been filed with the court and the decision had been suspended. The court must decide the issue, but the conscription procedure was violated, it is strictly described in the law. It is clear that this is all for a reason, ”added Ponomarev.
In May, Fedotov signed a contract with the Philadelphia Flyers NHL club and told the coaching staff and management of CSKA, which is patronized by the head of Rosneft Igor Sechin, that he was no longer ready to play for the club and wanted to leave Russia. “Thus, he arbitrarily and illegally terminates the contract with the hockey club,” Fontanka’s source close to the situation said.
“As for the initiator, the military prosecutor’s office, the logic here is clear: Ivan Fedotov is a member of the HC CSKA, that is, formally a military man,” Fontanka wrote.
“Based on the actions of the Criminal Investigation Department of St. Petersburg, this story is difficult to assess outside the political context,” Fontanka writes.