Vladimir Putin grants lifetime immunity to former Presidents of Russia and their families

Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 22 signed legislation that will grant lifetime immunity to former presidents once they leave the office. The bill, which was published online, will give immunity from criminal prosecutions to Russian presidents and their families. They will also be exempted from questioning by police or investigators, as well as searches or arrests. 

The new law comes amid swirling questions over Putin’s future after his current term expires in 2024. It is also a part of sweeping constitutional reforms allowing the Russian President to ignore current limits and run for two more six-year presidential terms. The legislation was part of constitutional amendments that were approved earlier this year in a nationwide vote that allow Putin to remain president until 2036. 

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Now, under the law, a former president can still be stripped of immunity if accused of treason or other grave crimes and the charges are confirmed by the Supreme and Constitutional courts. However, the legislation will additionally also grant ex-presidents a lifetime seat in the Federation Council or Senate, a position that assures immunity from prosecution upon leaving the presidency. 

According to the Moscow Times, when drafting the legislation, Russian lawmakers had argued that similar laws already exist in other countries around the globe. On Tuesday, the lower house State Duma passed the bill making information about employees of Russia’s judicial system, law enforcement and regulatory and military bodies confidential. The bill now requires the Russian President’s signature to become law, a step that is considered a formality. 

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Putin shuns Navalny’s report 

Meanwhile, the new legislation comes after Kremlin critic Alexie Navalny said that he telephones an alleged security agent and tricked him into admitting the Federal Security Service (FSB) tried to kill in August by poisoning. The FSB, on the other hand, described the evidence as "fake" and said that he was aided by foreign intelligence services. Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin also said that Navalny would have died, had state agents tried to assassinate him. His remarks came in reference to an investigative report which claimed, with substantive evidence, that Russia’s FSB poisoned him.

Speaking at his annual press conference, Putin described the report as the “legalization of materials from the American special services" and added that Navalny "has their support". Justifying the tailing of the Kremlin critic, Putin said that Russia “of course” shadowed him, but did so because he was aligned with America. He blatantly dismissed the claim that Russian agents were behind Navalny’s poisoning. Furthermore, he reckoned that if the Russian special services had wanted to poison Navalny, "they would have taken it to the end.”

(Image: Twitter/@KremlinRussia_E)

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