Inside Story
BEREZOVSKY AND BELARUS KGB PLOT AGAINST US LAWYER EMANUEL ZELTSER
On March 12, 2008, a prominent US lawyer, Emanuel Zeltser and his assistant, Vladlena Funk, were arrested by the Belarusian KGB and have since been kept in an unidentified KGB detention facility. The numerous requests by the US Embassy in Minsk, Belarus, to obtain access to Mr. Zeltser were denied 4 times. 4 official protests have been issued to the Belarus authorities by the US Embassy in Belarus and the US State Department, pursuant to Articles 5 and 36 of the Vienna Convention. This event has been covered by The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Forbes Magazine, Associated Press, U.S. News MSNBC Wire Services and others.
According to the new information made available on March 20th, Mr. Zeltser was severely beaten up in jail, including direct blows to his head; denied medicine critical to his health even though the Belarus authorities received a detailed medical report from Mr. Zeltser’s physician who stated that Mr. Zeltser may not survive without the medications indicated. Mr. Zeltser was on hunger strike for 7 days before he was finally allowed to see a lawyer appointed by the authorities. Said lawyer confirmed that Mr. Zeltser was still being denied access to the medications that were sent to him.
On March 21, Mr. Zeltser was officially charged with “Use of Forged Documents”.
The charge puzzled the legal scholars all over the world, including Belarusian lawyers. Mr. Zeltser was arrested immediately upon arriving in Minsk and clearly had no time to “use” the alleged “forged documents”. As this was Mr. Zeltser’s first trip to Belarus, he clearly had no previous opportunity to “use” the documents (whether forged or not) in the country. Another legal hurdle for the Belarus prosecutor: by definition, a document allegedly forged, must be the original. Even in Belarus. One cannot forge a copy or a computer page. Mr. Zeltser traveled with his computer and did not have any documents with him.
So, why go to such trouble as to charge a noted US lawyer with the crime that the authorities cannot possibly prove? Even in Belarus where the defense attorneys must (by law!) be “KGB accredited and cleared”?
Well, there are 2 reasons.
Reason No. 1. Emanuel Zeltser, a US citizen, arrived in Minsk at the time when the relationship between the USA and Belarus is at its lowest level ever and was the first US national who entered the country after the Belarus’s dictator Lukashenka sent the US ambassador home. Is the incarceration of the US lawyer retaliation? Of course, it is. But this is also a stern warning to the opposition (both in jail and not yet in jail): don’t be wrong – no international pressure and no economic sanctions can affect “the last dictator in Europe” (New York Times); we are strong and defiant and just got 3 more comrades: Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Kim Jong Il of North Korea.
Reason No. 2. Friendship. Yes, a true friendship still exists, even in this cynical world of ours. A long and mutually advantageous friendship between the criminal fugitive wanted in most countries in the world, Boris Berezovsky and President Alexander Lukashenka. Berezovsky is a frequent guest in Belarus; his latest visit was on March 5. All Berezovsky’s trips to Minsk and meetings with Lukashenka are top state secret in order not to anger Russian President, Vladimir Putin who seeks Berezovsky’s extradition to Russia for serious crimes and falsification of an assassination plot based on which Berezovsky was able to secure his political asylum in Britain.
A quick look back in history: A recognized authority on Russian organized crime, Mr. Zeltser frequently appeared as expert on CNN, Fox News and other major media, exposing the most notorious members of the Russian mob. In 1999, at the invitation of the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services, Mr. Zeltser testified before the US Congress on the Russian organized crime and money laundering. Mr. Berezovsky was Mr. Zeltser’s frequent target. Sure, Mr. Berezovsky had more than enough reasons to hate Mr. Zeltser.
Once included in the list of 10 richest people on the planet, Boris Berezovsky has watched his vast wealth, initially estimated as 12 billion US dollars, rapidly disappearing. Endless lawsuits, enormous cost of personal security, extravagant life, support for the Russian opposition parties and personal political ambitions, bad business decisions and investments, frozen accounts in various countries - all contributed to Mr. Berezovsky’s financial ruin.
The situation that seemed unthinkable just a few years ago has become reality: Berezovsky is now No. 840 on the Forbes richest people list with his wealth estimated at $1.1 billion (if the US$ was not so low, Berezovsky would become an ordinary millionaire) and is no longer an oligarch. Mr. Berezovsky lost over 90% of his wealth and can no longer support the way of life he has been accustomed to. As one of his former associates remarks: “Boria pustoi” (Boris is empty). As the hardship keeps looming, Berezovsky had to make hard choices in his budget cuts. The most essential portion, security, is vitally important, so, 120 bodyguards escaped the job cut. His legal department, however, was less fortunate: once a major client of the largest law firms worldwide, Mr. Berezovsky was forced to scale down his legal representation to just 1 lawyer, Ms. Michelle Duncan, who seems to be quite busy defending his numerous lawsuits as well as many legal actions against her personally as Berezovsky’s co-conspirator.
As there is no available position in ‘Help Wanted’ sections for oligarchs and very little hope for the British government poverty subsidy, Mr. Berezovsky has decided to do what he does best: steal. As a trusted person of the Georgian billionaire, Badri Patarkatsishvili, Berezovsky had all information about Patarkatsishvili’s bank accounts, investments, properties, businesses and holdings. On Feb 12, Badri Patarkatsishvili, 52, a healthy man who never suffered any ailments, suddenly died of heart attack 3 hours after his meeting with Boris Berezovsky. All those who know Mr. Berezovsky had no doubt that he had been directly involved in the death of Mr. Patarkatsishvili.
Now when Badri Patarkatsishvili is dead, Berezovsky was certain he could quietly put all Mr. Patarkatsishvili’s wealth in his pocket and regain the coveted oligarch status. Isn’t it a great reason for celebration? Not so soon, Boris! Here comes again (guess, who?) Emanuel Zeltser who produced evidence that the late Badri Patarkatsishvili appointed his cousin, long time general manager and close friend and associate, Joseph Kay, executor of his will.
It is obvious that getting rid of Emanuel Zeltser has become Berezovsky’s top priority. With the sizable world inflation, the cost of assassination has gone up, and with his funds drastically reduced, Mr. Berezovsky decided, instead, to use his friendship channels (see “Friendship” above). Mr. Berezovsky flew Emanuel Zeltser to Belarus on board of his private jet. According to the criminal complaint filed in London, Mr. Zeltser was drugged and placed on Berezovsky's jet against his will. Berezovsky then asked his friend, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka for a personal favor: to arrest and hold Emanuel Zeltser as he walks off the plane. While Mr. Lukashenka appeared to have no problem with that, he seemed a bit uneasy to do this based solely upon the direct request by Berezovsky. This problem, however, was quickly resolved to the mutual satisfaction of Mr. Berezovsky and Mr. Lukashenka: Berezovsky’s attorney (guess, who) Michelle Duncan sent the request to the Belarus authorities to apprehend Mr. Zeltser based on unfounded accusation of (guess, what) “use of forged documents”. Not too much work for the Belarus prosecutor: he just had to copy the Berezovsky/Duncan letter word by word.
Now Boris Berezovsky has successfully accomplished the first phase: Emanuel Zeltser is locked up in Belarusian KGB jail and effectively denied the opportunity to prove in the court of law that the documents pertaining to Mr. Patarkatsishvili's will are authentic. But Berezovsky still cannot automatically get access to Mr. Patarkatsishvili’s funds as the document related to Mr. Patarkatsishvili’s will exists. Berezovsky has embarked on a new plan: using late Badri Patarkatsishvili’s ex-wife, Inna Gudavadze (Mr. Patarkatsishvili re-married in May of 1997) as “plaintiff”, he is planning to start a lawsuit claiming that the documents appointing Joseph Kay as executor (guess, what) “are forged”. The lawyer representing Inna Gudavadze is (guess, who) the same Michelle Duncan who is on Mr. Berizovsky’s payroll. Ms. Gudavadze who made a deal with Berezovsky to split the money they hope to get, does not realize that, in the end ALL the funds have been intended for Mr. Berezovsky.
The present situation cannot be more favorable for Berezovsky: Emanuel Zeltser, the lawyer who has all the documents and the evidence and would handle the case, has been locked up in Belarusian KGB jail and denied his constitutional right to due process of law; it is, therefore, clear that Emanuel Zeltser will be held in the Belarusian jail for as long as Berezovsky desires and, if needed, may suffer a convenient lethal heart attack.
- A. Romanova, Harvard
Emanuel Zeltser Still Being Held in Belarus
A noteworthy story in which international law and human rights overlap, as they so often do:
New York lawyer and American citizen Emanuel Zeltser, 55, is being held in Belarus on charges of economic espionage and drug possession. According to law.com’s international news website, Mr. Zeltser’s last memory was “drinking coffee at a London cafe,” before waking up “on a private plane headed for a KGB-monitored detention center in Belarus last March.”
Apparently, Mr. Zeltser had never before set foot in Belarus. He has, however, dedicated much of his legal career to investigating and publicizing money-laundering and corruption in the United States, as well as in Russia and other former S.S.R. countries. While I’m not saying there’s a definite link here, it’s certainly worth following up on. Hopefully, more major news sources and an inquisitive investigative journalist or two will make this a bigger story to get it the press it deserves.
His trial was closed-door, and both the U.S. State Department and Amnesty International have been denied access to see him. Mr. Zeltser has several serious pre-existing medical conditions that require regular monitoring and medication.
I’m not going to get into Belarusian politics here, until I have more information. But one thing it does highlight is the impotency of international legal protections, and the lack of anything resembling a consensus on what constitutes human rights (there have been reports of his torture by the Belarusian KGB) between U.N. member countries.
The fact that this is happening in a country that borders Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Poland drives the point home forcefully. This is in the backyard of American influence, snuggled right up against the EU’s borders.
International legal protections need to be strengthened. We need to increase our efforts at creating a working framework for standardized extradition treaties with countries like Belarus. Despite the efforts of State, at the end of the day there might be very little that can be done to extract a Russian-born American citizen, the charges against whom may well be spurious (we have no way of knowing, as it was a closed trial), from jail in a country with which we maintain diplomatic relations. We’re not talking about getting an Israeli soldier back from Hamas or Hizbollah here.
And, of course, the IMF just decided to loan Belarus $2.5 billion to help it “weather the economic crisis.” At what point should a country’s human rights record become a serious criterion for evaluating its receipt of international financial aid? Food for thought.
Relations between Lukashenko and the West seem to be improving — his government just released three prominent political prisoners, a sacrifice at the altar of international opinion — but the 2008 elections were declared “undemocratic,” and the road towards a respectable human rights record will be long and difficult. And still, Zeltser languishes in prison.
I will keep an eye out for new developments in this tragic story.