MOSCOW, August 9 (RAPSI, Oleg Sivozhelezov) – The Federal Chamber of Lawyers has supported an initiative proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to prohibit investigators from seizing servers and hard disk drives during searches at companies, the Chamber’s press office told RAPSI on Wednesday.

The Chamber’s President Yury Pilipenko suggested to draft relevant amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code.

The ban was offered to avoid suspension of companies’ operations. If needed, investigators may make certified copies and use them in their work, Putin said at the meeting on the further development of the Russian Far East on August 3. Conditions making conduct of activities impossible for companies, up to failure to pay taxes, must not be created, the President stressed.

Pilipenko also expressed his solidarity with the President’s initiatives on combating unfounded defendants’ detention. The Federal Chamber of Lawyers proposed to amend the Criminal Procedure Code by introducing ban on extension of detention in the case of unreasonable investigation delays. Under the amendments, unreasonable investigation delays will constitute grounds for release from jail and mitigation of restrictive measures.

The Federal Chamber of Lawyers was founded in 2003. The organization is engaged in coordination of regional bar associations, control of high level of legal assistance, and representing lawyers in Russia’s government agencies.