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Russian senator Kerimov returns to Russia from France

Russian businessman and senator Suleiman Kerimov got back his passport and returned to Russia after a French court cleared him of all accusations

PARIS, July 2. /TASS/. Russian businessman and senator 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 informed.

"On Thursday [June 28] a court session took place, during which all accusations against Kerimov were lifted. On Thursday [June 29] Kerimov got back his passport and returned to Russia," the Russian office stated. The office provided consular support to the Russian senator since his detainment at the Nice airport in November of last year.

As the Russian diplomatic mission informed, Kerimov, who was not allowed to leave France since the end of last year, is now free to travel Europe. "Yes, he can come back to France, and visit Schengen countries," the Villefranche office confirmed.

The Kerimov case

Suleiman Kerimov, a member of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house, was detained at the Nice airport overnight to November 21. 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.

On June 28, a court in the French city of Aix-en-Provence has cleared Kerimov of all accusations. There have been no new accusations against Kerimov from the French side.