Embassy Calls for Humanitarian Release of U.S. Citizen
U.S. Embassy Minsk Press Statement
April 29, 2008
The United States is deeply concerned about the deteriorating health of
American citizen Emanuel Zeltser, imprisoned in Belarus. Since his
detention on March 12, the U.S. Embassy in Minsk has only been permitted
to visit him on two occasions, March 27 and April 25.
During the visit on April 25, the consular officer from the U.S. Embassy
noticed a significant physical deterioration of Mr. Zeltser’s health
since the previous visit on March 27. Mr. Zeltser lost a considerable
amount of weight and was very weak. Despite all efforts by the U.S.
Embassy, his lawyer, and his U.S. doctor to comply with prison
procedures, Mr. Zeltser has not been permitted to take his required
daily medications, which may be causing irreversible internal damage.
The United States is extremely concerned for the health and safety of
Mr. Zeltser should he remain in the care and custody of the Government
of Belarus. On April 25, the Department of State requested the
Government of Belarus to release Emanuel Zeltser on humanitarian grounds
immediately. We urge the Government of Belarus to favorably consider
this request in order to save the life of an American citizen suffering
in its custody.
Amnesty International stands up for Emanuel Zeltser
2008-05-08 17:17 / Amnesty International Press-Release
A
human rights defending organization “Amnesty International” has urged its
adherents to turn to the Belarusian authorities and demand to provide an
American lawyer Emmanuel Zeltser with the medicine he needs as soon as
possible. Human rights defenders also demand that an independent
investigation of facts of physical violence against him should be conducted
and those who are guilty should be punished.
07 May 2008
UA 121/08 Torture and other ill-treatment/health concern
BELARUS Emanuel Zeltser (m), US national
US national Emanuel Zeltser was detained when he flew in to Belarus on 12
March. He is held in a state security services detention facility in the
capital, Minsk, where according to his lawyer he has been interrogated and
beaten, and has been denied the medicine he needs urgently to treat his
diabetes and arthritis.
On 21 March he was charged with "use of forged documents." The US Embassy in
Minsk has been allowed to visit him only twice, on 27 March and 25 April.
After the second visit, the US Consul, Caroline Savage, reported that
Emanuel Zeltser’s health was failing, noting that he had lost weight, was
very weak and had difficulty walking and talking, and that he had been
beaten two or three times while in custody.
Emanuel Zeltser suffers from Type 2 diabetes and a severe form of arthritis,
for which he has been on prescription medication for over 15 years. A letter
from his doctor to the Prosecutor General in Belarus states that without
access to the appropriate medication Emanuel Zeltser may suffer
"excruciating debilitating pain" and risk irreversible multiple internal
organ damage. Emanuel Zeltser’s lawyer delivered the necessary medication to
the detention facility, but according to his family the authorities are
withholding it, and his health is deteriorating.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Belarus declared independence in 1991: it had been part of the Soviet Union,
which collapsed earlier that year. Since President Alyaksandr Lukashenka
came to power in 1994, respect for human rights in Belarus has
deteriorated.
According to an umbrella group of human rights NGOs, the International
Helsinki Federation (IHF), prison conditions in Belarus are often
substandard, with inmates held in cramped cells which are dirty, poorly
ventilated and have
"inadequate
hygiene facilities".
The IHF reports that inmates risk torture or other ill-treatment, are given
insufficient food and do not always receive the medical attention or
medicines that they need.
Relations between Belarus and the US have become strained recently with the
US applying increasing pressure on the Belarusian authorities to release
political prisoners. In March and April, Belarus ordered the expulsion of
the US Ambassador and 10 US diplomats from the embassy in Minsk, after the
US authorities imposed sanctions on the country's state-controlled
oil-processing and chemicals company, Belneftekhim, which accounts for about
a third of the country's foreign currency earnings. Belarus is also reducing
the number of diplomats at its embassy in Washington.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in
Belarusian, Russian, English or own language:
- calling on the authorities to ensure that Emanuel Zeltser receives
immediately the medication his doctor has prescribed, which his lawyer
brought to the detention facility;
- calling on the authorities to order an urgent, independent investigation
of reports that Emanuel Zeltser has been tortured or otherwise ill-treated,
and to bring those responsible to justice;
- urging the authorities to ensure that Emanuel Zeltser is protected from
further torture and other ill-treatment, and given regular access to US
consular representatives, lawyers of his choice and any medical attention he
may require.
APPEALS TO:
Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA
President
Administratsia Prezidenta Respubliki Belarus
ul.Karla Marksa, 38
220016 Minsk
BELARUS
Fax: +375 17 226 06 10
+375 17 222 38 72
Salutation: Dear President Lukashenka
Grigorii VASILEVICH
Prosecutor General
Internatsionalnaya str., 22
220050 Minsk
BELARUS
Fax: +375 17 226 42 52
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General
COPIES TO:
Vladimir NAUMOV
Minister of Internal Affairs
Gorodskoi Val str., 2
220050 Minsk
BELARUS
Fax: +375 17 226 12 47
Salutation: Dear Minister
and to diplomatic representatives of Belarus accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Emanuel Zeltser dying in
KGB jail
Belarus
News, Apr. 11
Brother of detained in Minsk American lawyer Emanuel
Zeltser sent an open letter to Ryhor Vasilevich, Prosecutor General of
Belarus asking to interfere and save his life – relatives, referring to
a Belarusian lawyer of the detained, say Emanuel Zeltser’s state of
health is critical.
“Belorusskie Novosti” learnt from the General
Prosecutor’s Office that an appeal from Mark Zeltser addressed the
Prosecutor General had been received on 10 April.
The letter, also sent to “Belorusskie Novosti”
editor’s office, says Zelttser was denied “medicines, vital for his
health.” “The Belarusian authorities and Belarusian Embassy in the U.S.
have received a letter from his doctor in New York, saying clearly that
Mr Emanuel’s health is very bad, and warning he won’t be able to survive
without necessary medical care,” the letter says.
A medical report, warning about a threat of possible
irreversible process caused by numerous internal injuries, signed by his
consulting physician is attached to the appeal.
“The latest information from Emanuel’s lawyer points
out that state of health of Emanuel has considerably worsened, and he
may not survive. Dear Mr Vasilevich, Emanuel is dying in Your jail. Mr
Prosecutor General, I cry for Your help and ask to do all best to save
my brother Emanuel,” elder Zeltser writes.
Valer Nadtachaeu, head of the
Belarusian KGB Center of Information and Public Relations, said his
institution didn’t comment on the events. “We have made a statement that
an accusation was presented to him. Investigation is now in progress,” Nadtachaeu said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus also
refused to comment on the fact that the U.S. Embassy filed some notes of
protest: U.S. consul had the only opportunity to meet with Emanuel Zeltser on 27 March, but there were no requests to organise a new
meeting.
Emanuel Zeltser and his secretary Vladlena Funk were
arrested by the Belarusian KGB 12 March just after they arrived in
Minsk. They were accused of possession of forged documents. They are
kept in the KGB jail now; a common lawyer, appointed by the Belarusian
side, acts for them.
Zeltser’s relatives and friends
have repeatedly said they fear for his health. They state, referring to
the Belarusian lawyer of the detained, that he was denied three of four
medicines he had been taking daily for 15 years.
Zeltser’s relatives have also
reputedly said Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky may have some
relations to his arrest. According to them, he had allegedly agreed with
Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili’s relatives to provide them
with his lawyer to gain 50 per cent of the property of the Georgian
tycoon.
Patarkatsishvili’s widow and two
daughters laid an action against his step cousin Joseph Kay and his
lawyer Emanuel Zeltser, accusing them of possessing forged documents,
including power of attorney and testament.
Mark Zeltser said in the interview to “Belorusskie Novosti” that he had consultations with a lawyer, who had assured him
proceeding on that case couldn’t be started because the plaintiffs, as
Badri Patarkatsishvili himself, didn’t have U.S. citizenship, moreover,
he hadn’t had estate in the U.S.
The aim of the claim, according to elder Zeltser, is
to spatter Emanuel’s good name, and thus ruin his legal practice and
deprive him of earning.”
U.S. urges Belarus to release
lawyer
April 29, 2008
The Associated Press
MINSK, Belarus: The United States has
called for the release of an American lawyer who has been jailed in
Belarus since mid-March, saying his health is deteriorating.
Emanuel Zeltser was detained by the KGB in the
authoritarian ex-Soviet republic on charges of using false documents.
His relatives say the 54-year-old is being denied medication he needs
for diabetes.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy released a statement
saying that consular officials visited Zeltser in prison on Friday and
he "appeared considerably weaker and thinner" than on their previous
visit in late March.
The statement said "The Department of State strongly
urged the government of Belarus to release Mr. Zeltser on humanitarian
grounds."
April 29, 2008
The US State Department has called on
Minsk to release American lawyer Emanuel Zeltser on "humanitarian
grounds."
Belarus' charge d’affair in
Washington on April 25 was summoned to the US State Department and
given the statement calling for the release of the lawyer whose
health "noticeably deteriorated."
"Mr. Zeltser appeared considerably
weaker and thinner than when a consular officer was last permitted
to visit him on March 27. We are deeply concerned for his health and
welfare," said the press office of the US embassy in Minsk.
The statement of the US State
Department was issued after US Consul Caroline Savage met with Mr.
Zeltser earlier in the day. She told
BelaPAN
that his health condition caused serious concern, noting that the
man had lost weight, was very weak and had difficulty walking and
talking, and that he had been beaten two or three times while in
custody.
Maryya
Vanshyna, spokesperson for the Belarusian foreign ministry,
confirmed that the Belarusian diplomat had been summoned up to the
US State Department but declined to offer any details.
Previously, a representative of
the US diplomatic mission in Minsk had been allowed to meet with the
lawyer only once, on March 27. The embassy repeatedly called for
permission to meet the US citizen one more time.
The US lawyer was arrested in the
Belarusian capital city on March 12 together with his secretary,
Russian citizen Vladlena Funk, upon their arrival. The two were put
into the detention center of the Committee for State Security (KGB),
charged under Part 2 of the Criminal Code’s Article 318 with using
fake documents.
The lawyer's brother, Mark Zeltser,
claims that self-exiled Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky
orchestrated the arrests together with spokesman Lord Tim Bell, one
of Britain's top public-relations men, and Lord Peter Goldsmith over
the assets of the late Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili.
When Mr. Patarkatsishvili died,
his assets became the subject of a dispute pitting the widow backed
by Mr. Berezovsky, against his step cousin, Joseph Kay, who is
represented by Mr. Zeltser.
On April 28, Mark Zeltser sent an
open letter to Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Prosecutor General Ryhor
Vasilevich, urging them to "save" the life of his brother. "Boris
Berezovsky wants to prevent Emanuel Zeltser’s release and, as I
already informed you before, plans the murder of Emanuel or his
death “by natural causes” and blame Belarus for this," he said.
Interfax, Belarus, April 16, 2008
Zeltser to undergo forensic psychiatric expert examination
Holding Forensic psychiatric expert examination of the US citizen
Emanuel Zeltser detained in Minsk has been ordered by investigator.
“E. Zeltser was placed to a forensic psychiatry department for
individuals under tough security”, Interfax was told in the Republican
clinic mental hospital near Minsk (Navinki settlement).
“He was placed to the department to undergo an examination,”
representatives of the hospital said. They refused to say for how long
it would take, and why the examination had been prescribed referring to
medical secrecy.
As it was informed earlier, a former Soviet citizen Emanuel Zeltser was
arrested on March 12 in Minsk airport. He arrived to Minsk for a short
meeting with clients. Some mass media alleged that the arrest of the
lawyer is connected with the case of the late Georgian billionaire Badri
Patarkatsishvili who was E. Zeltser’s client.
Emanuel Zeltser currently heads the American Russian Law Institute based
in New York. He is an expert on organized crime and money laundering
combat in Russia and the former Soviet Union. IN 2000-2001 he was a
lawyer of Pavel Borodin, the State Secretary of the union of Belarus and
Russia detained in New York.
E. Zeltser appeared in the case of alleged money laundering via Bank of
New York.
The New York Sun
Belarus Transfers U.S. Lawyer To
Psychiatric Hospital
By Staff Reporter of The New York Sun
April 16, 2008
International Herald Tribune, March 18
US
lawyer detained in Belarus being denied medication, relative says
The Associated Press
Published: April 11, 2008
MINSK, Belarus:
The brother of an American lawyer being held in Belarus on suspicion of
using false documents says authorities are denying the detainee
medication for his diabetes.
New York-based Mark Zeltser said Friday that the Belarusian KGB is
allowing 54-year-old lawyer Emanuel Zeltser only one of the four sets of
tablets he has been taking for the last 15 years to treat the disease.
Mark Zeltser says he has written a letter to prosecutors in Belarus
saying that "Emanuel is dying in prison." The KGB has refused to
comment.
Its officers detained Zeltser at Minsk airport March 12. Zelster faces
three years in prison if convicted.
International Herald Tribune, March 18
Status of US lawyer arrested in Belarus still unknown as his family worries for his health
MINSK, Belarus: The arrest of a U.S. lawyer in Belarus last week remained shrouded in mystery Tuesday as local authorities declined to provide any information on his detention. Russian-born Emanuel Zeltser, 54, who heads non-governmental organization Russian-American Law Institute, was detained on March 12 as he arrived in Belarus for meetings with clients. Emanuel Zeltser was traveling from England with his secretary, Russian national Vladlena Funk, who also was detained. Officials at Belarus' spy service, which still goes under its Soviet name KGB, confirmed Zeltser's arrest, but declined to provide any details. The case could worsen already strained ties between the U.S. and Belarus, which earlier this month recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations and pushed the United States do the same.
U.S. officials have called President Alexander Lukashenko "Europe's last dictator" for his authoritarian rule and intolerance of dissent in the ex-Soviet republic of 10 million. Washington has demanded Belarus release all inmates the U.S. considers political prisoners.
Zeltser appeared in 1999 before the U.S. House Committee on Banking and Financial Services as an expert witness on money laundering and fraud in Russia.
Forbes.com, March 18
Lawyer Zeltser Detained In Minsk
Emanuel Zeltser, a Russian-born U.S. citizen who sued the Bank of New York during the height of its Russian money-laundering scandal in the 1990s, was detained last week in Minsk.
The reasons for his arrest just after exiting a plane in the authoritarian country are unknown, and news of the March 12 occurrence in the capital of Belarus is just now reaching other countries.
The U.S. State Department, citing a law that requires missing persons to sign a waiver before information about them can be released, refused to comment or confirm that Zeltser had been detained.
But Mark Zeltser (Emanuel’s brother) said the State Department told him that a meeting scheduled for Tuesday between his brother and U.S. consular officials in Minsk had been postponed. He said that his brother suffers from chronic illnesses and that he had asked the Belarus Embassy in Washington to make medications available to him. He also requested a short-term visa to the country but so far has not received a reply.
Emanuel Zeltser had flown from London to Minsk, possibly to visit a Russian client with business in Minsk. "I know it wasn't for sightseeing," Mark Zeltser said. The detained American was traveling with his secretary, Vladlena Funk, who was also arrested.
Zeltser, outspoken and controversial, is a specialist on money laundering and organized crime. In 1999 he testified before the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services regarding the estimated $10 billion money-laundering scheme at the Bank of New York, which is now known as Bank of New York Mellon. He also sued the bank for $2 billion on behalf of depositors who had lost money in an affiliate.
There is speculation that the detention was on the orders of either the Belarus or Russian intelligence services, possibly in connection with the Bank of New York suit. "The KGB is in more than one country," remarked Zeltser's brother Mark.
Associated Press, March 18
Minsk - Russian-born Emanuel Zeltser, 54, who heads non-governmental organization Russian-American Law Institute, was detained on March 12 as he arrived in Belarus for meetings with clients.
Zeltser appeared in 1999 before the U.S. House Committee on Banking and Financial Services as an expert witness on money laundering and fraud in Russia.
In 1995, Zeltser sued Inkombank, once Russia's second-largest bank, in a U.S. federal court, accusing it of misappropriating funds from depositors in collaboration with the Bank of New York. He previously worked for the bank, but claimed he was dismissed from his post after initiating an investigation into evidence of theft and fraud. Inkombank collapsed in 1998 amid Russia's financial crisis.
Khartiya’97, March 18
A lawyer, a money laundering combat expert, a US citizen of Russian origin Emanuel Zeltser was detained in Minsk on March 12. The press learnt about that on March 17.
An expert in regulations governing money laundering and organized crimes in Russia and the former Soviet states, he currently heads the American Russian Law Institute. In 1999, Mr. Zeltser testified before the US House Committee on Banking and Financial Services at a hearing of a case into organized crime and money laundering in Russia.
The lawyer and human rights watchdog appeared as an expert in such mass media as ËÁË Fox News, CNN, Voice of America, Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe, CBC (Canada) and others. He commented facts of international terrorism, issues of money laundering and organized crime.
The Earth Times, March 21
A US citizen in charge of an anti-organised crime NGO has been visited in a Belarusian prison for the first time by his lawyer, the Belapan news agency reported Friday. Emanuel Zeltser, director of the American-Russian Law Institute (ARLI), has been held in a KGB jail in the former Soviet republic since March 12 on unspecified charges.
Belarus' government has banned representatives from the US embassy in Minsk from visiting Zeltser as well.
Relations between Minsk and Washington are at rock-bottom, due to wide-ranging economic sanctions imposed by the US on Belarus, according to the US because of Belarus' authoritarian government and human rights abuses by the country's President Aleksander Lukashenko.
Belarus' KGB, despite media reports for more than a week saying it is holding Zeltser in a detention facility outside Minsk, on Friday continued to deny knowledge of the pair. "No, as before I know absolutely nothing about that," said Valery Nadtochaev, a KGB spokesman
Zeltser in the late 1990s sued Russia's Inkom bank and the American Bank of New York for operating financial schemes resulting in the loss of tens of millions of dollars of savings by US depositors, and the laundering of billions of dollars of aid money given Russia by the International Monetary Fund and other donors. He was targeted for a mob hit in 1998, and even a decade later Russian organized crime has a murder contract out on him, according to an ARLI statement.
Independent / Europe, March 18
Anti-mob lawyer arrested in Belarus
Minsk - Police in the authoritarian state of Belarus arrested a leading US anti-mob lawyer the moment he stepped off an aeroplane, the Belapan news agency reported on Tuesday. Emanuel Zeltser is director of the American Russian Law Institute (ARLI), an NGO specializing in legal and financial sector reform in the former Soviet republics. His location of detention and physical condition had not been made public nearly a week after his Wednesday arrest, which was only made public on Tuesday.
Officials from the US embassy in Minsk confirmed uniformed police grabbed Zeltser as soon as he stepped off a London-Minsk flight.
An émigré from Russia to the US in the 1970s, Zeltser in the late 1990s sued Russia's Inkom bank and the American Bank of New York for operating financial schemes resulting in the loss of tens of millions of dollars of savings by US depositors.
Zeltser in the late 1990s testified to the US Congress of extensive Russian organised crime links with dishonest US bankers.
The ARLI later helped draft legislation tightening controls against money-laundering in the US and Russia.
