Russian MP Rauf Arashukov arrested for double murder after he tried to flee senate floor
- Rauf Arashukov, a 32-year-old senator, is a suspect in the 2010 murders of two people and pressuring a witness to one of the killings
- He is the first sitting senator to be detained on murder charges
A Russian lawmaker suspected of involvement in two killings was detained at parliament in front of stunned members of the upper house after he tried to escape but was stopped by the speaker.
Rauf Arashukov, 32, who represents the Karachaevo-Cherkessiya region in the North Caucasus, was detained Wednesday after the upper house voted to strip him of immunity from prosecution.
Russia’s Prosecutor General and the head of the Investigative Committee that deals with high-profile crimes attended the immunity vote.
Arashukov is suspected of orchestrating the killing of a well-known activist and an adviser to the leader of Karachaevo-Cherkessiya in 2010.
Russian news website RBC last year quoted investigation sources as saying that three people testified against the lawmaker, accusing him of ordering the killing of local activist Aslan Zhukov, who was fatally shot outside his house.
The man’s sister last year publicly came forward against Arashukov.