10 Mar 2022 23:57

State Duma greenlights submittal of Rashkin case to court

MOSCOW. March 10 (Interfax) - Russia's State Duma has given consent to sending the criminal case against its member Valery Rashkin (Communist Party of the Russian Federation), who was earlier charged with illegal hunting, to the court.

The lower house of the Russian parliament has approved the submittal to the court of the criminal case opened following the poaching incident which took place on the Lebedka hunting grounds in Russia's Saratov region in the early hours of October 29, 2021 and involved Rashkin. Investigators have found that Rashkin, who did not have a hunting license, took part in a hunt for a moose, which was killed and carved up.

Moreover, Rashkin refused to undergo an alcohol test, and thus faced administrative penalties for drunk driving.

Rashkin claimed at first that he had found the animal's dead body, but later publicly admitted the fact of hunting, saying that he had been invited by friends to take part in the hunt. The parliamentarian insisted that he did not know that none of them had an appropriate license. He also said he was willing to compensate material damage.

Communist Party officials said earlier that Rashkin's prosecution could be politically motivated. Rashkin denies any wrongdoing.

On November 29, the State Duma agreed to strip Rashkin of immunity at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office so that a criminal case can be opened against him and an injunction order can be imposed on him as a restraining measure.

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