The Starobelsky District Court of the Luhansk region, which is considering the case of the head of the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada of the 7th convocation Oleksandr Yefremov, extended his term of detention for up to 60 days, until June 12.

The court adopted the relevant decision at a meeting on Friday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reports.

The previous term of Yefremov's detention expired on April 28.

At the same time, since February 9, Yefremov sits next to his lawyers in the courtroom, and is not hold prisoner in the cell for the defendants.

As reported, Yefremov on July 30, 2016 was detained on suspicion of threatening Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty in an airport in Kyiv. He is also charged with supporting the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic and the illegal acquisition of property belonging to Luhanskvuhillia.

The press service of the Prosecutor General's Office said that the Starobelsky District Court of Luhansk region is currently considering the case on charges of Yefremov in complicity with terrorists, encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine and high treason.

Yefremov is suspected of state treason, activities deliberately undertaken by a citizen of Ukraine to diminish the nation's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. He is accused of supporting a foreign organization to conduct disruptive activities against Ukraine (Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

He is accused of supporting and establishing a terrorist organization - the so-called "Luhansk People's Republic" (Part 1 of Article 258-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

On March 16, 2017, the press secretary of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Larysa Sarhan reported that the episode on economic crimes, in which Yefremov is accused, had been detached into a separate criminal proceeding.