Investigations Committee's actions on Belykh, Navalny are not politically motivated - Senator Gattarov
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax) - Senator Ruslan Gattarov has called against looking for political motives in the actions by Investigations Committee officials on the Kirov region's Governor Nikita Belykh.
"There are absolutely no politics in this case. There are facts which are now being investigated by the relevant authorities," Gattarov told Interfax on Wednesday.
Gattarov said he had issued an inquiry to the Prosecutor General's Office regarding the probe into Belykh's correspondence with blogger Alexei Navalny more than six months ago.
"The correspondence, which has leaked to the media, addressed various financial schemes and mentioned the story with the Urzhum Alcohol Factory," Gattarov said.
Gattarov said the probe into Belykh's activities is also connected to this correspondence.
"We are talking about the Kirov region, which is a subsidized region. Apparently, the investigators have confirmed facts and specific suspects, one of which has ran away, which speaks for itself," Gattarov said.
There is currently a tendency to believe that any case against anyone associated with the opposition movement to some degree is politically motivated, he said.
"We have presumption of innocence, and no one is accusing Mr. Belykh of anything. Only the court can make a final decision on this. Judging by his statements, Mr. Belykh is not inclined to politicize this issue, unlike his supporters, former deputy governors and advisers," Gattarov said.
Gattarov said Navalny and Belykh addressed many issues in their correspondence, which drew natural attention from the law enforcement agencies.
"All facts are now being investigated, and therefore this case lies solely in the legal, not political realm," Gattarov said.
On January 29, investigators from the Main Investigations Department of the Investigations Committee and the Main Department for Economic Security and Corruption Prevention of the Russian Interior Ministry and the Russian Federal Security Service searched Belykh's office.
