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Chechen deputies in the Russian State Duma call for stripping LDPR leader of his Russian citizenship for nationalist remarks

Vakhayev said he was going to appeal to the Duma Committee for deputy ethics soon

Photo courtesy of ITAR-TASS / Artyom Korotaev

Photo courtesy of ITAR-TASS / Artyom Korotaev

MOSCOW, October 29 (Itar-Tass) - Russian State Duma deputies from the Chechen Republic on Tuesday confirmed their intention to sue LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky in court and demand that he be stripped of his Russian citizenship after his remarks about North Caucasus made in the Poyedinok (Duel) television political talk show last Thursday.

Khodzh Magomed Vakhayev, a deputy of the United Russia party and first deputy chairman of the Duma anti-corruption and security committee, told Itar-Tass on Tuesday that he had discussed the issue with the head of Chechnya’s presidential administration.

Vakhayev said he was going to appeal to the Duma Committee for deputy ethics soon. “We are going to sue him (Zhirinovsky) in court for inciting inter-ethnic strife,” Vakhayev said.

Vakhayev said he would demand that the LDPR leader be stripped of his Russian citizenship.

“We have always favored stabilization and normalization of inter-ethnic relations. My parents and I were born in Russia. I was educated here. I love and I cherish this culture. It is very unpleasant to hear such verbal attacks on the part of anybody,” Vakhayev explained.

Asked whether he would be satisfied with Zhirinovsky’s public apologies, the deputy replied that it was not the first time that the LDPR had made such statements.

“The LDPR has very interesting and intelligent people but if a party leader comes forward with such ideas, then I assume that such a party should not exist in Russia and should be closed,” the Chechen deputy emphasized.

Earlier on Tuesday, Gadzhimet Safarliyev from the United Russia party sent an inquiry to Russia’s Chief Prosecutor Yuri Chaika asking him to check whether Zhirinovsky’s remarks could be classified as extremist.

Zhirinovsky who took part in the Poyedinok (Duel) televised political talk show last Thursday said, among other things, that it was necessary to restrict internal migration from the North Caucasus. After that, Sergei Mitrokhin, the leader of the Yabloko party, sent an inquiry to the Russian Investigation Committee demanding to bring charges against Zhirinovsky for inciting hatred or hostility.

For his part, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on his official page in the Internet that he had been surprised by State Duma deputies who allowed their colleague to behave in that way.

An Itar-Tass source in the Russian State Duma reported on October 28 that the heads of the Duma factions would discuss the situation this week and would try to settle the conflict between LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky and the heads of the North Caucasus republics.

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