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Russian prosecutor says probe into illegal crab fishing targets prime minister
SEAFOOD.COM NEWS
4th April 2003
MOSCOW (AP) - A top Russian prosecutor said Friday that a criminal probe into violations in the fishing industries had targeted Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and other senior Cabinet officials, the Interfax news agency reported.
``We have questions to and claims against several high-ranking officials in the Cabinet, including the prime minister,'' it quoted Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Kolesnikov as saying.
He said that prosecutors were specifically looking at Kasyanov's directive issued last September that allocated additional crab quotas. ``We have determined that the document contradicts the law and must be repealed,'' Kolesnikov said, according to Interfax.
Kolesnikov said that Kasyanov hadn't responded to the prosecutors' demand, and the Cabinet's chief of staff, Igor Shuvalov, initially balked at providing the official documents requested by prosecutors. Kolesnikov said prosecutors got the documents only after threatening to confiscate them, Interfax said.
``This criminal case will be pursued to the end and any officials found to be involved in any illegal activities will be brought to justice irrespective of their rank,'' Kolesnikov was quoted as saying.
Tatiana Razbash, a spokeswoman for Kasyanov, had no immediate comment.
Prosecutors have earlier filed official charges against several fishing officials accused of illegal activities.
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