Valery Rashkin, a deputy of the State Duma of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, could lose his immunity the following week. This was reported to the press by a source in the lower house of parliament on November 11. Previously, Vyacheslav Volodin had announced the immediate scheduling of a hearing on the matter, if the Prosecutor-General made a submission. Without a complete revocation of the deputy’s immunity, it is impossible to institute criminal proceedings against Rashkin. The head of the Duma Commission for Mandates Otari Arshba reported.
According to the information of the Hunting and Fishing Committee of Saratov Oblast, at the end of last month in the area of the village of Bald Mountains, the vehicle of Deputy Rashkin was detained with the newly cut moose carcass. The task force proceeded to the scene when several shots were heard in the air. According to the TASS news agency, hunting weapon sheaths were seized during the inspection. Among their contents were found “a hunting carbine from the sight of night vision, a tripod, cartridges, as well as a hunting card and a permit to keep and carry the weapon in the name of Valery Rashkin ”. The weapons and cartridges, as well as the knife and axe with traces of blood, will be examined in the laboratory.
According to the Deputy himself, the disgraced carcass was found by chance during a walk in the woods.
Anastasia Zakharova, Head of the Information and Public Relations Department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for Saratov region, reported that during the medical examination, Rashkin refused to undergo a drunkenness test. Criminal proceedings were instituted under article 258 of the Criminal Code concerning illegal hunting of detained persons. For the time being, Rashkin may be facing up to two years in prison, but during the course of the investigation the sentence could increase to five years.
According to the State Duma deputy of the Communist Party Yuri Sinelnikov, Rashkin passed a polygraph test, which allegedly confirmed the detainee’s version of the legality of his actions while hunting. At the same time, Sinelnikov noted that this was only a “landmark” and not a valid piece of evidence under the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.
Interfax reports that Vyacheslav Volodin and the Chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, received letters from Rashkin in which the deputy expressed his readiness to assist the investigation in completing the inquiry and establishing the truth.
