Members of the upper house of the Russian parliament should draw a lesson from a recent case of the "trading" of positions, House Speaker Sergei Mironov said on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Interior Ministry announced the detention of Mikhail Beridze, an aide to a Federation Council member on suspicion of selling the positions of aides and advisers in the upper and lower houses of parliament.
Beridze allegedly offered such positions for $150,000 to $200,000 apiece.
"Such things are unacceptable," Mironov said, adding that the lawmakers should run checks on all of their aides to prevent such cases recurring in the future.
Beridze was sacked as aide to Federation Council member Alexander Ter-Avanesov on November 22.
It was not immediately clear how many positions Beridze had actually sold or whether the persons using his services were identified.
No action will be taken against Ter-Avanesov, because "the case has become a good lesson" for him, Mironov said.
MOSCOW, December 1 (RIA Novosti)
