Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutskiy
Leonid Eduardovich
participated in the roundtable “On law enforcement practice and improvement of legislation
regulating the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of Russian
citizens abroad” that was organized by the Federation Council in order to discuss the problems of supporting Russians and compatriots who get into
trouble in foreign countries.
Leonid Slutskiy believes that combined efforts of the two chambers of the Federal Assembly in coordination with the relevant federal agencies, representatives of civil society, expert legal communities will help develop the state system of automatic assistance in such situations.
The Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs reminded the cases of Kirill Vyshinsky and Maria Butina, who spoke at the State Duma last Friday at a joint meeting of the Committee on International Affairs, the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia and the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. Kirill Vyshinsky and Maria Butina were rescued from political detention and returned to Russia. However, he emphasized that both cases are rather an exception, as hundreds of Russians are still in a similar difficult situation and this trend is only increasing.
Leonid Slutskiy stated that creation of a response and assistance mechanism for those who get into trouble abroad is an urgent task and the chambers of the Federal Assembly need to pay special attention to increasing the effectiveness of legislative protection of the rights of Russian citizens, as well as strengthening cooperation with the Federal Agency for the CIS, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation, by increasing funding for legal assistance to Russians who have become victims of extremism, discrimination and Russophobia in foreign countries.
He believes that “within the framework of their powers both the State Duma and the Federation Council must initiate the discussion of enhancing human rights activities in international parliamentary organizations such as IPU, PACE, OSCE PA, on all platforms where Russia is represented.”
