Suspected of illegal hunting: the State Duma received a petition to deprive the immunity of Deputy Rashkin

The State Duma received a petition from the Prosecutor General's Office to deprive the immunity of the deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Valery Rashkin in connection with the case of illegal hunting.

This was announced by the chairman of the lower house of parliament Vyacheslav Volodin.

“The State Duma has received a proposal from the Prosecutor General to deprive deputy Valery Rashkin of immunity,” he confirmed.

According to him, the State Duma may discuss this issue at a meeting on November 25.

Recall that at the end of October, the Committee for Hunting and Fisheries of the Saratov Region filed a complaint with the police against Valery Rashkin on suspicion of illegal hunting.

They said that on October 28, on the territory of the hunting grounds of the Saratov Regional Society of Hunters and Fishermen, shots from hunting weapons were approximately heard.

The inspectors and police who arrived at the scene found a car in which there were two people, one of whom was Rashkin.

In the trunk there was a butchered moose carcass.

According to Rashkin himself, he and his companion found a dead animal in the forest and decided to take the carcass.

They had no weapons with them.

At the same time, the police found the skin, legs and head of a butchered animal not far from the car.

At the same time, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Saratov Region reported that not far from the place where the car with the dead animal was found, the police found a weapon permit and a hunting ticket in the name of Valery Rashkin, as well as two cases of hunting rifles: one contained a hunting carbine with a night vision scope, and in the other - a tripod and cartridges.

“In addition, in the cases were found a weapon permit and a hunting ticket issued in the name of V.F. Rashkin,” the message says. 

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A hunting inspector who found a moose carcass in the car told how a bullet and a cartridge case were found at the scene.

“By the way, the weapon was also found in the ditch.

It was hidden ... When inspecting the place where the skin was cut, it was clearly evident that the animal had been shot from a rifled weapon, ”said the man.

According to him, the bullet "pierced" the animal through and through and "stuck" into the tree.

“In this direction we took a straight line from the location of the sleeve to the place of cutting, and in those aspens they found a bullet,” the huntsman noted.

He also doubted that the men found at the place of illegal hunting could "go out into the forest for a walk."

“The weather was very bad that night: it was snowing, it was raining, windy, foggy, visibility was poor.

They usually don't walk in such weather, ”he said.

On the fact of the incident, a criminal case was initiated under Art.

258 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Illegal hunting"), the investigation of which was transferred to the central office of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

In early November, the official representative of the Investigative Committee, Svetlana Petrenko, announced that the department had appointed expert examinations in the case.

According to her, various tools and weapons found in the car were "found to be material evidence."

“A knife, an ax and other items from the car ... were recognized as material evidence and were also sent for forensic examinations.

Videos are being investigated, ”she said.

At the same time, Rashkin himself, in a letter to the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, announced his readiness to appear at the department in order to establish the circumstances of the incident.

As the deputy noted, the case has acquired a lot of conjectures and conjectures expressed by journalists, politicians and statesmen.

“In order to ensure the establishment of the truth in the case, the prompt completion of the investigation, I am ready to appear before the relevant investigator, upon summoning him, together with my lawyer to provide the necessary explanations, to participate in other investigative actions,” RIA Novosti reports with reference to a copy of the appeal.

In turn, the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Zyuganov, stated that Valery Rashkin is being checked within the party, in particular at the level of the control commission.

On November 9, State Duma deputy Yuri Sinelshchikov told RIA Novosti that Valery Rashkin had passed a polygraph test at the request of lawyers. 

According to him, during the check, the version of the deputy was confirmed.

“But we have to keep in mind two things.

Firstly, a polygraph, in accordance with our Code of Criminal Procedure, is not a proof, it is a reference point.

Secondly, this was not carried out by order of investigators or other bodies of investigation, but it was carried out at the request of his lawyers.

It was carried out by a fairly highly competent organization, ”he said.