MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian Federation Council lawmaker Suleiman Kerimov, who is being detained in France, entered the country without a diplomatic passport, as he was not on a business trip, a source in the Federation Council told Sputnik on Wednesday.
"A diplomatic passport may be handed to a senator only in case of an order to send him on a business trip. There was no such order," the source added.
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Russia should demand immediate release of upper house lawmaker Suleiman Kerimov, detained in France, the upper house’s speaker Valentina Matvienko said Wednesday.
“In this case we should do everything possible and even impossible for the soonest release of lawmaker Kerimov, and that is how we will act, I assure you,” Matvienko said.
The Russian embassy in France is seeking the release of Suleiman Kerimov, an embassy spokesman said.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik that the French Foreign Ministry had been informed that Kerimov, detained by the French authorities in Nice, was a Russian senator and had diplomatic immunity.
According to media reports, the court in France on Wednesday morning will choose the measure of restraint for Kerimov.
