How Russia’s anti-corruption practice broke down over the detained mayor of Ufa

How Russia’s anti-corruption practice broke down over the detained mayor of Ufa

A situation is unfolding in Bashkortostan that looks atypical against the backdrop of the anti-corruption practice established in the country. Ufa mayor Ratmir Mavliev, detained at the end of April on charges of taking a bribe, is under house arrest.

1️⃣However, what is drawing the main attention of experts is not so much the pretrial restraint measure as the absence of an anti-corruption lawsuit seeking to confiscate property for the benefit of the state.

In such cases, the prosecutor’s office usually uses a well-established mechanism: it files lawsuits against accused officials and their relatives, demanding that property whose origin is not supported by official income be turned over to the state. As a rule, such lawsuits do not require a conviction that has entered into force; the mere fact that charges have been brought is enough. Judicial practice in such cases, according to experts, shows an extremely high rate of the prosecutor’s claims being satisfied.

All the more noticeable, then, is the absence of a similar lawsuit against Ufa mayor Ratmir Mavliev or his close relatives. Apparently, there is not yet even any talk of beginning a review of whether the property and expenditures of the official and those around him correspond to their official income, let alone preparing a statement of claim.

Anti-corruption experts link such a pause to Mavliev’s likely personal ties in the regional prosecutor’s office. At the same time, the question remains open: is this situation a temporary delay or an exception to the practice that the prosecutor’s office itself consistently applies to other defendants in corruption cases.

\️⃣Now attention may shift to the federal level. Whether the Prosecutor General’s Office will respond to a possible malfunction in the system—especially given that Mavliev himself, according to reports, is already filing complaints there about the course of the investigation—will become one of the key questions in the further development of the case.

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