Marat Ganiev faced the Supreme Court in Melbourne via video link on Tuesday, where his legal team took the "extraordinary step" of applying for a permanent stay on his criminal case.
The 55-year-old was initially charged with the murder of Ms Bell, 19, after her remains were found inside a fridge at a rubbish tip in 2024.
He was committed to stand trial, however once his case reached the Supreme Court the prosecution downgraded the charge to manslaughter.
About a week before he was due to face trial, in May this year the prosecution withdrew the manslaughter charge and filed a fresh indictment, accusing Ganiev of perverting the course of justice.
Ganiev's barrister Sally Flynn KC on Tuesday argued this was an abuse of process as she applied for the stay which, if successful, will mean her client walks free.
"The way this prosecution of Mr Ganiev has unfolded is out of the ordinary to say the least," she told the Victorian Supreme Court.
"The evidence and the law have never changed, it's just the prosecution case that has changed."
She said the prosecution's decision to file a new indictment, a week before the trial was due to begin, amounted to "an abuse of process".
"It is so unfair as to mean this court ought (to) take the extraordinary step of permanently staying this prosecution," Ms Flynn said.
Prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams said the Director of Public Prosecutions used "commonplace and sound" discretion in reconsidering the charge against Ganiev.
"Cases are examined, re-examined, examined again, those processes are sharpened and more intensively applied as the matter reaches a critical point: for example, a trial or plea," he said.
"There's nothing relevantly unfair about that process."
Justice James Elliott reserved his decision and will hand down his judgment at a later date.
Another man, Eyal Yaffe, had his charges discontinued by prosecutors in May, after previously facing assist offender and pervert the course of justice.
Outside court, Ms Bell's mother Justine Spokes addressed a crowd of about 100 people, some of whom had donned "Justice for Isla" shirts and wielded orange signs.
"Her story deserves to be told. The truth deserves to be felt," she said.
Femicide researcher Sherele Moody also addressed the crowd, pointing out Victoria had the highest rate of femicide in Australia in 2026.
"All we can do is keep fighting the good fight, keep turning up for every one of them," she said.
10°C