YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin applied to Rashid Nurgaliyev,
Russia’s Interior Minister, demanding to file a criminal case
on bribes received by federal and regional bureaucrats by
Daimler.
The loud corruption scandal around Daimler led to publication
in the Internet of some documents from the US Ministry of
Justice relating to the case. The documents provide detailed
information what officials and of which Russian ministries
received the bribes and how much. The overall amount of bribes
received by Russian bureaucrats from Daimler is assessed at
about Euro 5 mln.
The trial in the US court ended by an amicable agreement envisaging
that Daimler AG admits the guilt and pays considerable fines.
The Russian representation of the company, ZAO Mercedes-Benz
Rus admitted its guilt of bribing officials on April 2.
However, there was no official reaction to this from the
Russian law enforcement. The only statement made was that
by Svetlana Petrenko, deputy head of the Public Relations
Department of the Investigation Committee under Public Prosecutor,
who informed that there would be no investigation as they
“did not receive any files”.
Sergei Mitrokhin noted in his letter to the Interior Minister,
that Petrenko’s opinion contradicts the norms of Article 144
of the Part 2 of the Criminal Procedural Code envisaging examination
of information on crimes spread by the press.
“These crimes committed on Russia’s territory should be investigated
in the shortest terms, the heads of ZAO Mercedes-Benz Rus
should be interrogated and the necessary documents from them
and the US Ministry of Justice should be obtained,” runs Sergei
Mitrokhin’s letter. This can be done within the framework
of the US-RF treaty on mutual legal aid in investigation of
criminal cases, Mitrokhin stressed.
See also:
YABLOKO
Against Corruption
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