Russian State Duma receives request to strip immunity of veteran Communist Party lawmaker Valery Rashkin

The Russian Attorney General’s Office submitted a request to the State Duma to remove the parliamentary immunity of Valery Rashkin, a veteran lawmaker from the Communist Party (KPRF).

This was announced by State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin on Wednesday, November 17. According to Volodin, the Duma Council is expected to consider the request later in the day on Wednesday. After that, the State Duma Commission on Mandates Issues will have seven days to consider the appeal.

The issue of stripping Rashkin’s parliamentary immunity is set to be considered at a plenary session on November 25, Volodin added. According to the State Duma chairman, Rashkin will have an opportunity to speak and other lawmakers will be able to ask him questions before the parliament renders a decision. 

Depriving a lawmaker of parliamentary immunity allows for charges to be brought against them. However, a State Duma deputy can only lose their mandate after a conviction.

On October 29, police in the Saratov region detained Valery Rashkin for illegal hunting after they stopped him for drunk driving and found a butchered elk in the trunk of his car. Rashkin claimed that he found the elk carcass, and didn’t shoot the animal himself. If convicted, he will face up to two years in prison.