"A case can be initiated": the State Duma removed parliamentary immunity from Rashkin

On Thursday, November 25, the State Duma, during a plenary session, approved the decision to remove parliamentary immunity from Communist Party deputy Valery Rashkin in connection with the case of illegal hunting.

343 deputies voted “for”, 55 “against”, two abstained.

Now he can be brought to criminal and administrative responsibility.

“The deputies ... supported the decision to give consent to the deprivation of immunity of the deputy Valery Rashkin, to initiate a criminal case against him and to bring the parliamentarian to administrative responsibility imposed in court,” the press service of the State Duma reported.

They clarified that a case may be initiated against Rashkin under Article 258 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Illegal hunting").

Also, the deputy can be held administratively liable for refusing a medical examination for the state of alcoholic intoxication while driving.

"In addition, the General Prosecutor's Office asked the deputies to consent to searches in the residential and non-residential premises occupied by Valery Rashkin, as well as the application of a preventive measure in the form of a ban on certain actions," the State Duma added.

At the meeting of the lower house of parliament, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov made a speech.

He stated that Rashkin, a hunter with more than 20 years of experience, has been a member of the Saratov Regional Society of Hunters and Fishermen since 1999, and therefore could not have been aware of the need to obtain permission to hunt animals.

According to Krasnov, the deputy not only deliberately went on an illegal hunt, but also tried to mislead the police during the arrest.

“Thanks to the media, this, without exaggeration, shame has become common knowledge.

Moreover, today Rashkin has twice publicly actually admitted his involvement in the alleged act.

Although he did not give up hope of avoiding responsibility, "- said the prosecutor general.

“Rashkin refused to cooperate with law enforcement agencies, began to give false explanations, hid the instruments of the crime, obviously, could have an impact on witnesses with whom he personally knew, which must be taken into account,” Krasnov emphasized.

At the same time, he added that "there can be no talk of any political background in the deputy's case."

To the gallery page

In turn, the deputy head of the State Duma committee on ecology, natural resources and environmental protection Vladimir Burmatov called to check the Rashkin case for aggravating circumstances.

"The Rashkin case must go to court, there is no political component in it ... Illegal hunting is a serious crime," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

The Communist Party deputy himself said during a meeting of the State Duma that the scale of the scandal that broke out around him was "unprecedented for such a situation."

He expressed the opinion that the situation with the killing of a moose is a convenient opportunity to take out "some old grievances or personal hostility."

“I understand that this situation is not only my problem, that it casts a shadow on the entire deputy corps, but it also happens because the scale of the scandal raised around me is completely disproportionate to the gravity of the offense ... I ask you to show prudence and nobility.” - said the deputy.

Moose hunting

Recall that on November 22, the representative of the Prosecutor General's Office Sergei Bochkarev appealed to the State Duma with a request to facilitate the investigation of the case and allow investigative actions with the participation of Rashkin, as well as to choose a preventive measure for him in the form of a ban on certain actions.

At the end of October, the Committee for Hunting and Fisheries of the Saratov Region filed a complaint with the police against the deputy.

Rashkin, together with a friend, was found at night on the territory of the farm in a car, in the trunk of which there was a buttered carcass of an elk.

Then he announced that he had found the carcass of an animal in the forest.

Police officers later found two cases with a hunting rifle, a night vision scope, a tripod and ammunition near the car.

There was also a weapon permit and a hunting ticket in the name of Valery Rashkin.

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.

On November 17, the State Duma received a petition from the Prosecutor General's Office to deprive Rashkin of immunity.

Later, the deputy published a video message on YouTube, in which he confessed to killing an elk.

On the record, Rashkin said that he had come to visit friends who claimed that "the hunt is open and there is permission to shoot ungulates."

In turn, a RT source in the district Society of Hunters and Fishermen said that Rashkin and his acquaintances had allegedly been hunting in the area for several years.

It also became known that the deputy intends to purchase a moose cow and release it into the forest in the Saratov region instead of the previously killed animal.