MOSCOW, November 17 - RAPSI. Russian parliamentary deputy Ashot Yegiazaryan has filed a motion with a U.S. court for a protective order prohibiting defendant Pyotr Zalmayev, a U.S. citizen, from seeking his testimony irrelevant to the case, in particular on his business reputation. The Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) has a copy of the motion.

"Mr. Zalmayev should be prohibited from questioning Mr. Yegiazaryan about events occurring years ago in Russia or elsewhere overseas that are unrelated to the statements challenged in the complaint, as well as about his general reputation in Russia," the document reads.

In Russia Yegiazaryan was deprived of his parliamentary immunity. He is under investigation on fraud charges and faces 10 years in prison. He has been on the federal wanted list since November 2010 and on the international wanted list since late December. The State Duma (Russian parliament's lower house) consented to his arrest in March.

In his action filed with the federal court in the Southern District of New York Yegiazaryan claimed that he was a victim of a corporate raid initiated by businessmen Suleiman Kerimov and Arkady Rotenberg, as well as former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov.

According to Yegiazaryan, the conflict stems from his involvement in the Moscow hotel renovation project.

The defendant heads the Eurasia Democracy Initiative research and production association.

Yegiazaryan holds that it was Zalmayev, who launched a negative public relations effort against him as part of his corporate raid.

In his motion Yegiazaryan emphasized that Zalmayev would like "to delve intrusively into every nook and cranny of Yegiazaryan's existence" and requests the court to limit the defendant's interest.