In the drama on the hunt, Valery Rashkin plays the last act

The case against Valery Rashkin and Alexander Gnoshev is being considered at the place of the incident – in the Kalininsky District Court of the Saratov Region.

It was submitted to the court on March 15, both defendants – the well-known opposition politician Valery Rashkin and his friend Alexander Gnoshev – are charged under Article 258 part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – illegal hunting using official position or by a group of persons by prior agreement or by an organized group, or causing especially large damage.

The case, which received federal resonance, is being considered by the chairman of the Kalininsky District Court Pavel Samylov, Valery Rashkin is defended by lawyer Konstantin Lazarev, Alexander Gnoshev – Dmitry Lygin. The secretariat of the court refused to give the name and surname of the state prosecutor to our publication.

Recall the chronology: the parliamentarian was detained on the night of October 29 in the Lysogorsky district, a part of the carcass of an elk was found in the trunk of his car. Moreover, at the place of detention of the unlucky hunter, “a whole horde of FSB officers, police, environmental structures” was waiting. A video with a dumbfounded parliamentarian, who said that he only found the carcass and took it to the police, was circulated by hundreds of media and telegram channels in a matter of hours.

As a result, almost immediately a criminal case was initiated under paragraph “a” of Part 1 of Art. 258 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal hunting committed with causing major damage, up to two years in prison), on the same day, October 29, the materials were requested by the regional Investigative Committee of the ICR – “due to the great public outcry by the decision of the supervisory authority,” as emphasized in department, noting that Rashkin’s involvement is still being verified.

After that, the case quickly flew up and ended up with the investigators of the central office of the Investigative Committee. Already on November 5, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin announced that the State Duma would consider lifting parliamentary immunity from Rashkin if the Prosecutor General’s Office made such a proposal.

On November 8, the parliamentarian himself, in a letter addressed to the chairman of the ICR, Alexander Bastrykin, said that the story was overgrown with “a lot of speculation” and he was ready to appear in the ICR “to give the necessary explanations.” The next day, November 9, Valery Rashkin, at the initiative of his lawyers, underwent a polygraph test, the results of which, according to him, confirmed the position: he did not kill the moose himself, he found the carcass and took it to the police.

On November 17, a proposal was submitted to the State Duma to deprive Rashkin of immunity, and on November 18, the deputy made a video message, where he admitted that he shot the animal on that hunt on October 29, being firmly convinced that the permission to shoot was issued, as required by law.

But this recognition did not save the politician from depriving him of his parliamentary immunity; his colleagues in parliament made the decision by a majority of votes. The meeting of the State Duma took place on November 25, and Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, speaking at it, called the behavior of the deputy “without exaggeration a disgrace.” Valery Rashkin himself, in a conversation with BV, called the last meeting a “political flogging”:

– I did not run anywhere, did not hide, I wrote to Bastrykin and Krasnov in writing that I was ready to cooperate with the investigation, to testify. But political flogging was needed, I was supposed to deprive me of parliamentary immunity in a demonstrative manner.

Yes, Rashkin committed a misdemeanor, because he did not have permission to shoot an elk, but this is an administrative offense, ”State Duma deputy Olga Alimova commented on the results of the meeting for BV, but look, there are three examinations alone, biological, genetic, ballistic , and what forces are thrown: the country’s prosecutor general, the best specialists of the Investigative Committee!

Further, the plot developed according to a completely understandable logic: on December 2, the TFR initiated a criminal case against the parliamentarian deprived of immunity on illegal hunting under the more difficult part 2 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code. The deputy got up to five years in prison. On December 13, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow, at the request of the ICR, forbade Rashkin to leave the residential premises from 23:00 to 07:00 without the written permission of the investigator; communicate with persons who are witnesses in a criminal case, other accused, suspects; send and receive postal and telegraph items; use communications and the Internet; visit any hunting grounds. An electronic bracelet was put on the leg of the parliamentarian, known for his protest activity and organizing rallies.

Themis of the district scale did not sleep either: on December 28, the justice of the peace of the judicial district No. 1 of the Lysogorsky district deprived Rashkin, who refused to undergo an alcohol test on October 29, of a driver’s license for 1.5 years. Also, the parliamentarian was fined 30 thousand rubles.

The moose hunting case finally moved to our Palestinians after the State Duma agreed on March 10, 2022 to send materials to the court. On March 24, Pavel Samylov softened the preventive measure for the famous hunter on his own recognizance. Thanks to this, the politician removed the bracelet and received permission to use all types and means of communication. However, the court dismissed the motion of the defense to dismiss the case and replace it with a court fine.

But this is a key moment: if a deputy is found guilty, then he has no place in parliament with a criminal record. Such a bright and principled fighter against corruption, poverty and many other deformities of our life will simply say goodbye to the mandate. Which was the purpose of all this drama on the hunt, inflated to a federal scale.

Today, March 31, before the start of the meeting, Valery Rashkin talked to reporters and said that he had experienced great stress, he decided never to hunt again and do charity work. The deputy admitted that he had violated the law, reimbursed 1 million rubles: the damage under the indictment in the amount of 480 thousand rubles, transferred funds for animal feed for three years in advance, and also paid for the examinations for 145 thousand rubles.

But the demand of prosecutors to return the elk to the wild instead of the killed one has not yet been fulfilled: a hunter was found in the Irkutsk region who raised a moose cow and is ready to sell it for 200 thousand rubles without logistics costs. But the regional committee for hunting and fishing does not accept the animal.