Deputies Move To Secure Positions
By Vladimir Kovalyev
Staff Writer
The Legislative Assembly on Wednesday adopted an amendment to the City Charter that will allow deputies convicted of a crime but given a suspended sentence to maintain their official positions. Deputies divided into two camps over the amendment - which passed by a vote of 38 to 10 - with supporters saying that it would secure them from "the tyranny of the courts" and opponents claiming that the measure had been passed specifically to support Sergei Shevchenko, an independent deputy who was convicted in November 2001 of extortion and given a 7 1/2-year suspended sentence. "We have noticed that the prosecutorial system often acts as a tool for squaring accounts [between City Hall and the Legislative Assembly]," said Leonid Romankov, a deputy with the Union of Right Forces faction, on Thursday. "It is like a stick the administration uses to dislodge [its enemies]." As an example of a politically motivated prosecution, Romankov mentioned former Legislative Assembly Speaker Yury Kravtsov, who was involved in a high-profile conflict with Governor Vladimir Yakovlev in 1998. Kravtsov lost his post after city prosecutors charged him with accepting bribes. Although the charges were later dropped, Kravtsov lost all of his official positions. "Today there is one, tomorrow there could be another," Romankov said. Yabloko deputies, however, insisted that the amendment was drawn up with Shevchenko in mind. "Yes, it was passed for this particular situation, and maybe some others were also thinking here about their futures," said Yabloko party member Boris Vishnevsky on Thursday. Shevchenko was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1998 as a member of the so-called "Petersburg List," a slate of candidates officially supported by Yakovlev. Most of the Legislative Assembly deputies who are generally considered to be pro-Yakovlev supported the amendment. Shevchenko was convicted of extorting $50,000 from Maksim Kusakhmetov, the editor of Teleman, a weekly entertainment publication. The case stemmed from a concert that a company owned by Shevchenko and his brother was promoting. "I don't understand why there are so many speculation about Shevchenko in the media on this question," said Andrei Krapivko, Shevchenko's spokesperson. "The City Charter was amended to bring it into line with federal legislation. That's why it was amended." Others at the Legislative Assembly see things differently. "[The amendment was passed] exactly because of this case. People here at the parliament have no doubts about it," said Oleg Alekseyev, an assistant for Oleg Sergeyev, a lawmaker from the pro-Kremlin Unity faction who opposed the amendment. Alexander Afanasiev, Yakovlev's spokesperson, said the governor was not pleased with the amendment. "The governor, you know, is in a very difficult position now. On the one hand, he must sign this according to the law. On the other, he doesn't like this type of amendment very much. I don't know what he is going to do in this situation," Afanasiev said Thursday.
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