UPDATE: Russia’s Duma to mull protest note against Kerimov’s detention

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MOSCOW, Nov 22 (PRIME) -- The parliament’s lower house State Duma may consider a draft order for the Foreign Ministry to issue a note of protest to the French Foreign Ministry against the detention of Russian businessman and lawmaker Suleiman Kerimov, State Duma’s speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said at a meeting on Wednesday.

Media reported on Tuesday that Kerimov, ranked by Forbes magazine as Russia’s 21st wealthiest businessman, with a net worth of $6.3 billion, was detained in Nice late on Monday. Reuters reported citing an official at the French prosecutor’s office that Kerimov, whose family controls Russia’s largest gold producer Polyus, was being held for questioning in a case related to laundering of tax fraud proceedings.

During a sitting of the State Duma, Dagestan Deputy Rizvan Kurbanov suggested issuing the note as France had not yet explained the reasons for the detention of a senator with diplomatic immunity.

“Let’s base on the norms of our procedure. We still have the time before the plenary meeting ends to prepare a corresponding draft order for either our committee or a request to the Foreign Ministry, and the State Duma will make a decision after consideration of the draft…I am asking the international affairs committee to help you prepare the request,” Volodin said.

A source in the Federation Council, the parliament’s upper house, told PRIME that Kerimov entered France without a diplomatic passport because he was on a private trip.

“We are allowed to issue a diplomatic passport to a senator only if there is an order that sends him on an official trip. We had no such order,” the source told PRIME, adding that all diplomatic passports are being kept by a special department of the Federation Council.

Russia notified the French Foreign Ministry that Kerimov is a member of the Federation Council, has diplomatic immunity and a diplomatic passport, and cannot be detained on the territory of another country.

Reuters also reported quoting a source as saying that the investigation centers on the purchase of several luxury residences on the French Riviera via shell companies, something that would have enabled Kerimov to reduce taxes owed to the French state. The source added that Kerimov would be held in custody for at least another 24 hours.

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