Tiraspol, 15 June. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. In an exclusive interview a journalist of AiF.ru asked the president why some media outlets accuse him of embezzling hundreds of millions US dollars, if this information is true and if someone is punished in case it isn't.
The president noted in this respect that Pridnestrovie has the most humane legislation which does not provide for criminal responsibility for libel.
«Someone may make use of it. I want to note, however, all these accusations are ungrounded and were made as part of pre-election campaign," said Yevgeny Shevchuk.
The president announced that he is ready any minute to give testimony to all relevant authorities on all the questions that may arise as a result of inspections of above accusations.
«I gave testimony to law enforcers, Investigation Committee, Committee for State Security. Not all accusations have been checked so far, but in most cases the initiation of criminal proceedings has been denied for lack of criminal elements in the action of the president. I think the situation when we are acting in the legal framework is optimal. If there are any doubts and statements, they must be checked and given a legal evaluation," explained the president.
According to the head of state, such blatant accusations of the president are another attempt to score additional media points. Yevgeny Shevchuk pointed out that it is almost impossible to bring an MP to criminal account «especially if he represents the parliamentary majority».
«This unruliness may emerge when people understand they are not liable to criminal responsibility. They think that the majority will not allow them to brought to account; therefore, such statements are possible," Yevgeny Shevchuk believes.
When asked about the possibility to amend the legislation, the head of state said that this requires having more people in the parliament who think about the state rather than politics. And for now Supreme Council members do not wish to restrict their immunity. «Today, as I can see, they are trying to extend their rights to even greater extent. There is even a proposal to make this immunity lifelong. It will be a unique example if they vote for it," said Yevgeny Shevchuk.
The journalist also wondered why the president has no his majority in the parliament, to which the head of state answered: «Ahead of the 2015 Supreme Council elections we had to make a number of unpopular decisions to stabilise the economic situation. For example, if Russia doubled the value of its national currency's exchange rate, and wages became twice as low against the US dollar, and in Ukraine this decrease was threefold, we reduced payments by 30% without devaluing the national currency. But we promised, at the same time, to repay the debts when possible. My opponents took advantage of the situation and said the money had been stolen. This seriously affected the pre-election campaign. Although we have gradually repaid both wages and pensions this year.»
