Yesterday the Duma supported
its former deputy Viktor Gitin (Yabloko),
subject to criminal proceedings by the Public Prosecutor
of Krasnoyarsk
Territory since March 2000 for "accepting a large
bribe". The Duma disclosed
procedural violations by the investigators. Members of
parliament have
forwarded the following inquiry to the Public Prosecutor
General Vladimir
Ustinov: Why has the local public prosecutor’s office
launched a criminal
action against the leader of Krasnoyarsk Yabloko, without
initially revoking
his immunity as a deputy?
It is alleged that while a deputy of the
Duma, Mr Gitin helped the
Krasnoyarsk bank "Raduga" obtain in 1996-1998
money from the federal budget
that had been set aside for implementation of the federal
programmes
entitled "Development of the Low Angara Region".
If we are to believe the
materials of the investigation, Raduga paid off Mr. Gitin
by opening
personal accounts for the deputy and his relatives in
the bank, depositing
there in general about one billion in "old"
(Ed. not denominated) roubles.
With respect to the criminal allegation
against Viktor Gitin while still a
deputy, the Office of the Public Prosecutor should first
of all have ensured
revocation of his immunity as a deputy of the State Duma
and only then have
initiated criminal proceedings, arrested him and seized
his documents. This
is how the Duma Committee for Legislation interprets Article
19 of the law
"On Deputy Status..." which stipulates the norms
for launching criminal
proceedings against a deputy.
Strictly speaking, the inquiry on behalf
of the Duma was initiated by
Yabloko with a single goal in mind: to make sure that
Viktor Gitin returns
to Moscow to recover his health. The former deputy has
issued a written
undertaking not to leave his place of arrest. Arrest was
replaced by a
written undertaking not to leave the place after he suffered
a stroke during
solitary confinement.
Doctors insist that the investigators
should allow Mr. Gitin to come to
Moscow for treatment: otherwise they do not guarantee
his survival for a
trial scheduled for September. However, Viktor Gitin blames
the Moscow
public prosecutors rather than the doctors. He is convinced
that his arrest
is political. His certainty is based on the fact that
at the time of his
arrest files unrelated to the charge concerning the economic
activity of
Governor Alexander Lebed and his narrow circle, as well
as information on
some credits obtained by Russia from international financial
organisations
with the help of the current Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov,
were seized
and have yet to be returned. There are also top secret
documents, in
particular, on the Krasnoyarsk Non-Ferrous Metals Plant.
It remains unclear whether the investigators
dispose of supporting documents
which confirm Mr. Gitin’s involvement in the transfer
of budget funds to a
commercial bank. Duma deputy Mikhail Zadornov (Yabloko)
informed the Duma
that the Angara Area development programme was only approved
by the
government in 1997. Moreover, the funds were planned in
the budgets for 1997
and 1998. However, according to reports from the Ministry
of Finance,
investment programmes were not performed during these
years owing to a
shortage of budget funds.
