MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) - A purported anti-corruption campaigner in Russia’s predominantly Muslim Republic of Tatarstan was caught accepting a bribe that he said he would pass on to a judge, the Investigative Committee said Thursday.
Marat Khafizov, a lawyer and head of a non-governmental organization titled the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan, told a client that he would have to give a judge 1 million rubles ($30,000) “for a favorable outcome” in a debt case against him, the Investigative Committee said in a statement posted on its website.
Khafizov was caught accepting the bribe on Wednesday, the statement said, adding that the client had reported the incident to the police, who placed Khafizov under surveillance and recorded the money exchanging hands.
Investigators will soon take the case to court, asking for Khafizov to be put in custody pending the trial on charges of acting as a middleman for a large bribe, punishable with up to 12 years in prison, the statement said, adding that the investigation was ongoing.
The Anti-Corruption Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan was created in 2008 “to promote civil rights and anti-corruption policy initiatives,” its website says. Repeated calls to the organization went unanswered on Wednesday.
Updates throughout, including attribution of accusation in headline and Paragraph 2, clarifies the case’s status, specifies the charge.
