Former Slavneft and Russneft head Mikhail Gutseriev in 2002
Photo: Dmitry Lebedev
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Gutseriev Left through Minsk
The Moscow Municipal Court ruled yesterday that the arrest in absentia of former Russneft head Mikhail Gutseriev and freezing of the stock in the company are legal. An order was issued for Gutseriev's arrest after he left the country in violation of an order not to do so. He is charged with tax evasion and illegal entrepreneurship. Gutseriev's lawyer Alla Yaminskaya stated in court that the prosecution has not presented reliable evidence that Gutseriev has left Russia.
Yaminskaya pointed out mistakes in the prosecution's evidence, namely, that her client is being searched for under the name “Mikhail Gutseriev,” while his first name is indicated as “Mikail” in his passport. The prosecution also failed to prove that the passport number it has ascribed to Gutseriev is really his. Prosecutor's representative Viktor Gvozdev countered that his office is in possession of a letter from the Belarusian Interior Ministry stating that Gutseriev flew from Minsk to Antalya, Turkey, on July 30, and that there can be no doubt of his identity.
Gvozdev called the international arrest warrant for Gutseriev a “forced measure” and pointed out that that action was taken only on August 24, even though neither his family nor colleagues knew his whereabouts before then. Yaminskaya said that Gutseriev has been undergoing medical treatment since July 30, but declined to provide details.
Turkey's main security agency told journalists that it had no information about Gutseriev's presence in that country. The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan made a similar statement. Gutseriev was last seen in Baku in a local mosque after the death of his son. There were unconfirmed reports that he went to London from there. A source close to Russneft has said that Gutseriev remains in Baku.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 06, 2007
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