Moscow court upholds detention of Dzhem publishing chief until November 20

The Moscow City Court has rejected an appeal against extending the detention of Andrey Cherkasov, chief executive of music publisher Dzhem. He will remain in custody until November 20.

Moscow's Tverskoy District Court had previously extended his detention by three months. He is accused of fraud and unlawfully creating a legal entity in a case involving the copyrights of Russian performers.

The defence argued on appeal that the alleged offences stemmed from a commercial dispute. Cherkasov described one complainant as a direct competitor and said arbitration disputes with First Music Publishing over rights to musical works had continued for more than 20 years.

Cherkasov said investigators had conducted 18 expert examinations, which he argued supported his non-involvement. He also said witnesses had already been questioned. The prosecution representative maintained that extending detention was lawful and justified, TASS reported.

Cherkasov, who also owns Profit LLC, has been held since late 2025. Complainants include composer Vyacheslav Dobrynin's widow Irina, First Music Publishing, which manages his official catalogue, and Ruki Vverkh! founders Sergey Zhukov and Alexey Potekhin.