Zeltser sentenced to 3 years of colony. Is it Bells’ plan launched?

The US citizen Emanuel Zeltser has been sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment for “commercial espionage”. This verdict has been passed today by Minsk city court. A Russian citizen Vladlena Bruskova has been sentenced to 1 year of imprisonment for collection of commercial information and use of false documents.

E. Zeltser has been sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment for collection of commercial information and use of false documents. He is to serve the term in the standard regime penal colony. He has been found not guilty of smuggling narcotic and psychotropic substances through Belarusian customs border.

As we informed, the state of health of the US citizen Emanuel Zeltser was so bad that police guards carry him into the court in arms. He had spent almost half a year in the KGB prison.

It has been told to journalists by Emanuel Zeltser’s lawyer Dzmitry Harachka. “E. Zeltser constantly complains about his health. He says that its’ difficult for him to walk upstairs to the court building, and police guards carry him in arms to the third floor,” Harachka said.

Besides, he noted that “the body of the person who had been taking medicines all his life, and who is not given pills now, is simply dying slowly”. The lawyer refused to tell details of the trial over Zeltser, reminding that he had given a written undertaking to the court not to disclose information.

US Embassy was not allowed to be at the court session in Zeltser’s case

The US diplomats haven’t been allowed to be present at the trial in the US citizen Emmanuel Zeltser’s case which is taking place in Minsk, the US Charge d'Affaires Jonathan Moore told at a press-conference in Minsk on August 6.

He said that the US representatives hadn’t been allowed to be present at the process. The process is closed for the US diplomats as well. They do not know the charges against him and cannot follow the state of his health, the US Charge d'Affaires said. He underlined that the US still demand to release E. Zeltser on humanitarian grounds.

The head of the US diplomatic mission specified that representatives of the Embassy met with E. Zeltser only three times since March 12. One time he was visited by an American physician.

Is it Bell’s plan launched?

As we have informed, a week ago report emerged that a PR manager, the head of Chime Communications board of directors Timothy Bell, has concluded a contract with Belarusian government to improve the image of the country in the international arena. The PR-manager has informed that he will work at the image of Belarus as a country. The closed trial, and the harsh verdict to the US lawyer, and imprisonement of the lawyer in poor health condition are apparently parts of Lord Bell’s plan.

As the Charter’97 press-centre informed, on March 12 Mr Zeltser and his secretary were arrested in Minsk. Mr Zeltser has been accused of use of false documents. Zeltser is a lawyer of US citizen Joseph Kay, a distant relative of Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili. After Patarkatsishvili had died 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 were not officially commented, as the case had 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 didn’t plead guilty of “industrial espionage” he is accused of, and he says it’s a “totally false case”.

Zeltser’s relatives, in particular, his brother Mark Zeltser, linked his detainment with case of Badri Patarkatsishvili’s estate.

Emanuel Zeltser’s brother thinks Boris Berezovsky orchestrated the arrest of Mr. Zeltser in Belarus. Mark thinks Berezovsky planned Emanuel Zeltser’s visit to Belarus beforehand.

The US Department of State demanded the Belarusian authorities to release the American lawyer immediately. United States consul Caroline Savage visited the arrested man on 25 April. 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.