Mikhail Yemelyanov, a member of the Russian State Duma's committee for constitutional law and state development, who attended a meeting between Russian lower house members and PACE representatives Luc Van den Brande and Teodoros Pangalos Tuesday, said earlier that the officials had proposed abolishing Russia's prosecutors' service.
"An insistent recommendation was voiced for the abolishment of the prosecutors' office, which was described as a repressive body with excessive functions," Yemelyanov said.
But Pangalos said their statements had been misinterpreted and that they had asked about how the prosecutor's office could combine several functions, compared to a democratic country, where powers are divided into executive, legislative and judicial.
The PACE officials arrived on a fact-finding mission to monitor Russia's performance in honoring commitments to the Council of Europe before drafting a regular report.
Yemelyanov said the alleged proposal resulted from a conflict between business and prosecutors in Russia. "Business wants to relax as much as possible and prosecutors control as much as they can," the MP said.
Yemelyanov said he got the impression that PACE was preparing the Russia report based on preconceived political assessments and alliances in Europe and the world, rather than actual human right problems in the country.
Luc Van den Brande said in response that they had arrived in Russia "with an open mind."
No comment from the Russian Prosecutor General's Office has been made so far.
PACE co-rapporteurs will visit Russia again in early fall.
