Russian MP questioned over beaten policemen
By James Schofield in Moscow
5/09/2003
(MP= Member of Parliament)
A Russian MP who reportedly carried out an unprovoked attack during which two policemen were beaten with a baseball bat may face charges after an assault which has shocked even Russians accustomed to the rowdy behaviour of their political class.
Police say that Vladislav Dyomin, State Duma Deputy, flagged down a patrol car in Moscow and then punched a policeman in the face crying “Beat the cops!”. Mr Dyomin had just left a friend’s birthday party in the early hours of Tuesday. The politician’s aide, Alexei Kozertsky, joined in the vicious assault as a third companion ran to get a baseball bat from a jeep and then joined in the attack.
Although arrested on the spot, Dyomin, 28, said to be a professional kickboxer and karate specialist, was later released after showing documents proving his status as an MP and thus his immunity from prosecution.
But the brutality of the attack has prompted Moscow prosecutors to take the unusual step of opening a criminal case against a politician, and threatening to request the Duma to strip him of his immunity. Mr Dyonin is a member of the ultra-nationalist “Liberal-Democratic” party, led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky. If prosecutors pursue the case, it would send a rare warning to Russia’s political class, a number of whom treat the law with open contempt.