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Russian senator cleared of charges in France gets back to work

Kerimov plans to take part in all events of the Federation Council upper house of the Russian parliament that he must attend, his aide said

MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Russian businessman and senator Suleiman Kerimov returned to Russia on Friday after a French court had dropped all charges against him, and has got back to his parliamentary activity, his aide Alexei Krasovsky told TASS on Monday.

He said Kerimov flew back to Russia on June 29 and "has resumed his duties". He also "plans to take part in all events" of the Federation Council upper house of the Russian parliament that he must attend, the aide said.

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Kremlin vows to make every effort to defend interests of senator detained in France

Suleiman Kerimov got back his passport and returned to Russia after a French court had cleared him of all accusations, the office of the Russian Consulate General in the city of Villefranche-sur-Mer said on Monday.

Kerimov was detained at the Nice airport overnight into November 21, 2017. Right after his detention, Moscow informed Paris that as a senator, he had diplomatic immunity. However, the French Foreign Ministry said that Kerimov’s diplomatic immunity was applicable only to his official duties.

On the following day, Kerimov was charged with money laundering and tax evasion. Nice Prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre said that Kerimov would "have to hand his passport over to the police, pay a bail of five million euros and cut off his contacts with individuals included in a list that we cannot make public." Kerimov was left at large but prohibited from leaving the Alpes-Maritimes department of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region of France until the investigation was over.

In January, the case went to an investigative judge whose activity is protected by secrecy of investigation. Kerimov was permitted to make a short three-day trip to Russia to visit a close relative, and subsequently he was permitted to go to Russia on several other occasions. According to Krasovsky, Kerimov visited Russia about ten times for this or that reason between November 2017 and June 2018.

On June 28, the court in Aix-en-Provence dropped the charges against the Russian tycoon. On June 29 Kerimov got back his passport and returned to Russia.

The lawyer of the Russian senator, Nikita Sychyov told TASS earlier that no charges are laid against Kerimov in France any longer.

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