MOSCOW. April 20 (Interfax) - Russian Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin has proposed appointing committee representatives in foreign countries for more efficient criminal prosecution of people suspected of having committed crimes in Russia and hiding abroad.
"I believe the introduction of offices of Investigative Committee representatives in foreign states and their deputies would ensure direct interaction between investigators and members of law enforcement agencies in foreign countries and also Russian diplomatic and consulate institutions abroad," Bastrykin said while speaking to Russian Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy officials on Tuesday.
Russian investigators need to maintain permanent contacts with their foreign partners on a number of criminal cases suspects on which have been granted asylum abroad, he said.
"They often need patient and compelling explanation as to why the treatment of criminal prosecution as politically-motivated is groundless and erroneous and enabling people who committed crimes dangerous to public to evade liability," he said.
Investigative Committee representatives could be first posted in four or five countries, "where investigators are interested in probing economic, terrorist and other crimes posing serious danger to society and threatening the state's national security, and which also involve significant material and moral damage," Bastrykin said.
Investigative Committee representatives and their deputies could be dispatched abroad by the Investigative Committee in coordination with relevant foreign bodies and the Russian Foreign Ministry, he said.
"Investigative Committee representatives should perform their functions as part of Russia's diplomatic institutions, without being included in their staff," Bastrykin said.
"Not only will this practice have a direct effect on the time for answering requests for legal assistance on the whole, but it will also help promptly control their implementation," Bastrykin said.