Russia parliament mulls foreign travel ban for deputies
Pro-Kremlin lawmakers on Tuesday proposed banning members of parliament from travelling abroad to countries such as the United States without permission of the Russian parliament's speaker.
The idea emerged as tensions between Moscow and Washington continued to rise over US allegations of rights abuses committed under the rule of President Vladimir Putin.
State Duma lower house of parliament deputy Mikhail Starshinov said the restriction was necessary because lawmakers were missing important work days and often travelling at the state's expense.
"What do we lack in today's legislation and Duma regulations that prevent us from effectively instituting this (measure)?" Starshinov asked on the private Dozhd TV channel.
"I was forced to take action."
The proposal was formed in direct response to a trip to the United States by Dmitry Gudkov -- a prominent opposition lawmaker who has ridiculed Russia's new ban on adoptions by US families.
Maverick Duma deputy Vladimir Zhirinovsky on Tuesday even proposed arresting Gudkov for "treason".
"You have the right to hate the (Russian) regime," said Zhirinovsky. "But the authorities, the country and the regime are here. So give up your (Duma) mandate," he urged Gudkov.
Gudkov, a member of the opposition A Just Russia party, spent two days in the US earlier this year visiting American families who successfully adopted Russian children.
Relations between Russia and the United States have followed a downward spiral ever since Putin's return to a third presidential term last May.
Putin accused Washington of financing the large street protests that preceded his election and then fought bitterly with Western countries over Moscow's refusal to sanction the Syrian regime.
But ties especially suffered after the United States slapped travel bans and banking limitations on Russians implicated in the death in custody of the whistleblowing attorney Sergei Magnitsky.
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http://www.globalpost.com/disp.....-travel-ban-deputies
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