Moskovsky Komsomolets has appealed to the Federation Council for an investigation after the council dismissed opposition blogger Alexei Navalny's claims that a senator holds dual citizenship with Israel.
The newspaper backed up its request with 31 pages of documents purportedly showing that Senator Vitaly Malkin, who represents Buryatia, holds Israeli citizenship and owns property abroad, it said Tuesday.
Malkin first found himself in the spotlight on March 14, when Navalny said he had documents showing that Malkin owns a real estate business in Canada.
Navalny said he uncovered Malkin's dual citizenship and property abroad by studying the senator's 2007 application for permanent resident status in Canada, which was provided by Canadian authorities.
The application showed that Malkin held Israeli citizenship under the name of Avikhur Ben Bar, Navalny said.
The same day as Navalny's report broke, Forbes reported that Malkin had surrendered his Israeli citizenship in 2007 after a law was enacted banning dual citizenship for members of the Russian parliament.
The Federation Council subsequently turned down Navalny's request to open a check, saying such requests can only come from organizations, not private citizens. Moskovsky Komsomolets responded by filing its request Tuesday.
While Malkin has not commented on reports of his owning real estate abroad, his assistant has denied that he held dual citizenship.
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