Bust on Senate Floor as Russia Legislator Faces Murder Case
- Youngest senator also accused of stealing gas from Gazprom
- Alleged crimes date back a decade from North Caucasus
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It started as a normal morning in the upper house of Russia’s parliament, as a rubber stamp body for the Kremlin packed with wealthy members. But within minutes, the country’s top law-enforcement officials turned up to detain a senator on murder charges as he waited for debate to begin.
The unprecedented scene saw Russia’s youngest senator, 32-year-old Rauf Arashukov, led from the floor of the Federation Council Wednesday on charges of murder and organized crime. As officials laid out their case to his colleagues to lift his immunity as a parliamentarian, he got up to leave the hall but was ordered to stay by Speaker Valentina Matvienko, she later told reporters.