The State Duma has sent an
inquiry to
Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov calling for
an end to the criminal investigation against
former legislator Viktor Gitin.
Gitin, the former deputy head of the
Duma’s
budget committee and a member of the
Yabloko faction, was arrested in March on
charges of getting kickbacks from a
Krasnoyarsk bank for arranging transfers of
federal funds through its accounts during his
term in parliament.
The letter to Ustinov received the votes
of 365
deputies, including the Communists.
The letter cited a May 1994 federal law
on the
status of State Duma deputies, which says
former lawmakers cannot be prosecuted for
activities related to their duties in parliament
unless the Duma strips them of their
immunity.
Gitin’s fellow Yabloko politicians have
maintained
his innocence, calling his arrest
political and saying he was a corruption-fighter.
After his arrest, Gitin was flown to
Krasnoyarsk,
jailed and released on his own
recognizance from the local prison hospital after
developing serious heart problems.
Criminal proceedings against Gitin, who is being
treated at a Krasnoyarsk hospital,
have been suspended until his health improves.
