Zeltser to have close trial 30 July
- 22.07.2008, 11:02
The Minsk city court will begin to hear the criminal case of US citizen Emanuel Zeltser on 30 July.
Zeltser’s lawyer Zmitser Harachka told it to Interfax-Zapad agency.
“The start of the trial is set for July 30. The process is expected to be held behind closed doors. Judge of the Minsk city court Dzmitry Klimovich will hear the case,” Harachka said.
As the Charter’97 press center informed, Emanuel Zeltser was detained in Minsk on 12 March on suspicion of using of forged documents. Zeltser is a lawyer of US citizen Joseph Kay, a distant relative of Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili. After Patarkatsishvili’s death on 13 February, J. Kay presented documents, proving he was an executor of his will. The documents were prepared by E. Zeltser, but B. Patarkatsishvili’s relatives say they were forged, after that E. Zeltser was detained in Minsk. On 13 May Tbilisi court has recognized Joseph Kay as a legitimate executor of the will, by this confirming the documents are authentic.
The details of Zeltser’s arrest are not officially commented, as the case is has a status of a state secret.
On 27 May a case on part 1 of article 328 (possession and smuggling of illegal drugs) and part 2 of article 228 (drugs smuggling) of the Criminal Code of Belarus was instituted against E. Zeltser. Zeltser’s physician appealed to the Prosecutor General Office several times saying the medicines, seized during the detention, are vital for his patient. He also said he had never informed his patient the medicines contained the substances which can be considered narcotics.
The US lawyer does not plead guilty of “industrial espionage” he is accused of, and he says it’s a “totally false case”.
The US Department of State demanded the Belarusian authorities to release the American lawyer immediately. On 25 April the United States consul Caroline Savage visited the arrested man. According to the consul, Zeltser said to her he had been beaten on the second and third days of his detention. The lawyer lost a considerable amount of weight, had difficulty walking and talking.