New development in Zeltser's case

• 20.05.2008, 18:17

The Tbilisi City Court in Georgia has recognized Joseph Kay as a legitimate executor of the assets of a late Georgian billionaire, a decision that may prove important for US lawyer Emanuel Zeltser kept in custody in Minsk.

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 with using fake documents.

When Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili died, his assets became the subject of a dispute pitting the widow backed by Boris Berezovsky, against his step cousin, Joseph Kay, who is represented by Mr. Zeltser.

The widow claimed that Messrs. Kay and Zeltser had presented false documents in an attempt to convince Patarkatsishvili’s family that Mr. Kay was the executioner of Patarkatsishvili’s will.

Dzmitry Harachka, lawyer of Mr. Zeltser, told BelaPAN that he had received a notification of the court decision but could not offer any comment as the notification had not yet been translated into Russian.

Maryna Zhandarava, head of the Belarusian ministry's department for international treaties and legal assistance, told BelaPAN that Belarus should recognize court decisions made in Georgia under a CIS agreement.

The lawyer's brother, Mark Zeltser, claims that self-exiled Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky orchestrated the arrests of Mr. Zeltser and his secretary together with spokesman Lord Bell, one of Britain's top public-relations men, and Lord Goldsmith over Patarkatsishvili's assets.

Lord Goldsmith denies any involvement in the arrests.