The Russian State Duma voted to strip a Communist MP’s immunity from prosecution after police found the dismembered remains of a moose in the trunk of his car.
Valery Rashkin, who recently led protests against the Kremlin on alleged electoral fraud, could face charges of illegal hunting and potentially be deprived of his seat in parliament.
According to police, officials discovered the animal remains in October during a traffic check in the Saratov region. Rashkin is also being punished for refusing to take an alcohol test, Russian prosecutors said.
Rashkin said the trial against him was politically motivated and should punish him for criticizing the September elections.
He first said he cut the animal up to put it in the trunk of his car and report it to the police. In statements to the broadcaster RTVI in October, he described the incident as a “provocation”.
This week, Rashkin said he was willing to pay a fine or “make up for the material and environmental damage” by buying a female moose of the same age and releasing it into the wild.
Russian MPs are granted immunity from criminal prosecution, but this privilege can be withdrawn by a majority decision in the Duma. On Thursday, MPs voted 341-55 votes in favor of the Attorney General’s motion against Rashkin.
Government officials have denied that Rashkin is being targeted for his political views, even though vocal Kremlin opponents have been demonstratively removed from the legislature.
“There can be no question of a political agenda here,” said Russia’s chief prosecutor Igor Krasnov of the Duma. He said the evidence against Rashkin included an investigative report, biological, DNA and ballistic tests, and testimony.
The charges named in the prosecution’s application are imprisonment for a maximum of five years.
