Today, the National Duma of the Russian Federation considered the possibility of choosing a preventive measure in the form of detention for Ilya Ponomarev. 417 deputies voted for Ponomarev's arrest and only three voted against. "And the second is the teaching public educational activity, speeches at universities," Ponomarev himself explains in an interview with the media.
On August 26, the Moscow City Court recognized Ponomarev's arrest in absentia as legitimate. He is currently in the United States, where he left last fall.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in addition to the changes related to the introduction of the institute of imperative mandate, our faction also submitted corresponding changes to the State Duma Rules of Procedure for consideration by the State Duma, in particular, to Article 18. In the video, which is also posted on Gudkov's page, Ponomarev 100% denies his guilt and says that he is not afraid of arrest, since he wants to "clear" his name.
The investigation then charged Ponomarev in absentia with aiding in embezzlement. In July, the court ordered his arrest in absentia. Ilya Ponomarev, who is a defendant in the Skolkovo Foundation case.
Ponomarev himself has been stating via video link at the main office of Interfax since early September that he sees no prospects for returning to the Russian Federation and Russian politics. The LDPR leader believes that the “procedure” should also be “changed” in cases where a deputy is taken into custody. The money, as investigators report, was stolen by the senior vice president for development and commercialization of the Skolkovo Foundation Alexey Beltyukov with the complicity of Ponomarev. According to reliable data available to the investigation, he received $750 for a course of lectures and some research work. The LDPR leader regrets that the "labor code norms do not apply to deputies," which is why the chamber cannot end the term of Mr. Ponomarev, "who has been absent for the second year not only from work, but also from the country." Before that, the deputy was put on the federal and international wanted list.
