Putin's Top Parliamentary Foe Faces Expulsion

Gennady Gudkov

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most vocal parliamentary critics has said that prosecutors have formally asked lawmakers to expel him from the chamber.

Gennady Gudkov of the A Just Russia party said he has received a copy of a letter from the Prosecutor-General's Office circulated among parliamentary groups in the pro-Kremlin Duma which he says is urging legislators to "consider prematurely terminating the powers of...Deputy Gennady Gudkov."

There was no immediate comment from the prosecutors themselves.

Federal investigators have already been looking into a controversial property deal Gudkov admits he was involved in in Bulgaria.

Gudkov insists he pulled out of that business by the time he joined parliament in 2001 and therefore broke no federal rules.

Gudkov was a vocal supporter of last winter's mass protests against Putin's rule.


Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax