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Council of Europe considers Gudkov case as special situation

Gudkov’s stripping of a deputy mandate is taken as an act of intimidation, European lawmakers believed

STRASBOURG, September 14 (Itar-Tass) — The State Duma’s decision to strip A Just Russia deputy Gennady Gudkov of a deputy mandate is “a special case, which the Council of Europe does not intend to comment on,” a spokesperson of the oldest European political organization told Itar-Tass on Friday.

On Friday, the State Duma stripped Gudkov of a deputy mandate after the Prosecutor General’s Office accused the latter of commercial activities that contradict the law on the status of deputy. Meanwhile, the Russian Investigation Committee is conducting several procedural inquiries, on the results of which several criminal cases can be opened against Gudkov. The member of A Just Russia rejected strongly all accusations against him.

The Council of Europe does not comment on any special cases.

On Thursday, the deputies of the European Parliament approved the resolution on the political aspect of the judicial system in Russia, in which Gudkov’s possible criminal persecution was linked with his professional activities. Gudkov’s stripping of a deputy mandate is taken as an act of intimidation, European lawmakers believed. The authors of the document stated that the human rights situation in Russia has deteriorated sharply for the last few months. Instead of decisive steps to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms the EU witnesses the scope of measures, which are seeking to restrict these rights, they said.

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