Pechersky District Court of Kyiv has chosen the pre-trial restriction for the former head of the Party of Regions parliamentary faction, Oleksandr Yefremov, in the form of detention until September 28, 2016.

This decision was announced by investigating judge of Pechersky District Court of Kyiv Volodymyr Karaban after he heard the statements of the Prosecutor General's Office, Yefremov's defense team and the defendant himself at a sitting on Monday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.

Thus, the court has granted a petition of the prosecutors, who asked to remand the defendant in custody for 60 days.

Yefremov was detained on suspicion of encroaching on Ukraine's territorial integrity at Boryspil Airport in Kyiv on July 30 after he boarded an Austrian Airlines plane bound for Vienna. Yefremov is suspected of a number of criminal offences, including taking possession of a property, premeditated attempts to change the borders of Ukrainian territory in breach of the Constitution, and organizing and assisting the efforts to create the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (Articles 191, 110 and 258 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code).

Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said the Prosecutor General's Office would petition for Yefremov's two-month detention, Lutsenko said, adding that given his charges the man should not be released on bail or placed under house arrest.