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Chief of Higher Attestation Commission detained

Shamkhalov's arrest might be linked to an investigation into a fraud case

MOSCOW, February 5 (Itar-Tass) - Chief of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Science and Education Ministry Felix Shamkhalov has been detained in Moscow, a law enforcement source told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. It did not rule out that Shamkhalov's arrest might be linked to an investigation into a fraud case.

A special commission was established in the wake of a scandal aroused by an article by Director of Physics and Math School under Moscow State University Andrei Andriyanov. Members of the school Club of graduates filed an appeal to the Higher Attestation Commission, demanding to check the legitimacy of awarding a degree of a bachelor of historical sciences to Andriyanov. Neither the author's own abstract of his dissertation nor articles he published are available in the main libraries, they said.

Afterwards, the theses defended by a number of other post graduates were called into question. The commission found out mass violations in the work of the Dissertation Council on historical sciences at Moscow Pedagogical State University. It was established that 17 dissertations could not have been found sufficient to award a scientific degree of a bachelor of science to any of their authors. Demands were voiced to strip the authors of these works of scientific degrees.

On Monday Chief of the Dissertation Council Alexander Danilov was fired from Moscow Pedagogical State University.

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