A draft bill aiming to grant lifelong immunity from criminal prosecution to all former presidents of Russia beyond their office terms was submitted by Russian lawmakers in Moscow Thursday.
According to CNN, state-run news agency TASS reported that it will protect current Russian President Vladimir Putin from any criminal prosecution if he ever decides to leave the office if the bill is passed.
Current Russian law prohibits the prosecution of presidents for any crimes that they committed while they are still in office. The new proposal, however, seeks to change that and bestow an extended immunity for presidents beyond their office terms and make it apply to all criminal offenses done in the president's lifetime.
The draft bill was proposed by the same parliamentary group, which assessed the controversial constitutional amendments done by Putin earlier this year.
In a statement, Senator Andrey Klishas, co-chair of the group which submitted the draft bill, said that even after the expiration of his office terms, a president will still have the right to count on the same level of protection and legal guarantees which the presidential office has provided him, Newsweek reported.
"This order acts as a guarantee against unjustified persecution of the former head of state and recognizes the importance of his role in the general system of public authority," the senator added.
The proposed legislation still needs to be passed through three readings in the Russian parliaments lower house and be reviewed in the upper house before it can be signed into law by Putin.
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Granting Immunity
When Putin first stepped into office in 2000, one of his first decrees was to grant immunity to his predecessor, former President Boris Yeltsin. Yeltsin stepped down from the office and chose Putin to be his successor.
Moreover, the proposed bill also makes the process of revoking immunity more complicated.
The draft proposed that to revoke any immunity, an indictment of grave felonies, including high treason confirmed by the Supreme and Constitutional Courts, is required, MSN reported.
It can be noted that the judges in the Supreme and Constitutional Courts are all nominated by the president.
A two-thirds majority from both chambers of the Russian parliament is needed to support the motion before it can be carried out.
The current law in Russia states that a former president can be stripped of his immunity if the Investigative Committee initiates a criminal case over a grave felony or state treason on the president. The case should also be supported by both parliament houses.
The draft bill comes just a week after Putin has submitted a bill giving former presidents a lifetime seat in the Federation Council or the parliament's upper house, under his constitutional reforms.
Following the proposal of the said bills, many have speculated that Putin is already putting together a retirement plan. Putin still has the option to stay in office until 2036, as provided by the constitutional reforms that were approved just this summer.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesperson, stated on Thursday that the proposed bill seeking lifetime immunity for former presidents follows the constitutional amendments and are not considered a "novelty" in international law.
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