The Supreme Court refused Rashkin to return the deputy’s mandate

The Board of Appeal of the Supreme Court upheld the decision to dismiss the claim of Valery Rashkin, who challenged the early termination of the powers of a State Duma deputy from the Communist Party, the press service of the court reported.

The draft resolution on the early termination of his powers was adopted on May 25 by the deputies of the State Duma. This decision was made in connection with the entry into force of the guilty verdict against the communist.

On April 22, the Kalininsky District Court of the Saratov Region sentenced Rashkin to three years of probation, finding him guilty of a crime under Part 2 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal hunting). On December 28, Rashkin was also deprived of his driver’s license for a year and a half and fined 30,000 rubles, he was forbidden to hunt for two years. The ex-deputy failed to challenge the conviction in the appellate court – the Saratov Regional Court recognized it as legal at the end of May.

Rashkin’s parliamentary immunity was lifted on November 25, which made it possible to bring him to criminal responsibility.

As it was established by the court and the investigation, on the night of October 29, 2021, on the territory of the Lebedka hunting estate in the Saratov region, Rashkin, without an appropriate hunting permit, tracked down and illegally hunted a wild animal – an elk.