ZGram - 2/25/2004 - "Is Mr. Putin reading my ZGrams?"

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!

February 25, 2004

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Remember the first ad I put in the paper, alerting Mr. Putin to my 
husband's kidnapping in broad daylight on American soil at the behest 
of those who call themselves the Chosen?  Naturally, nothing official 
was being said or done - nor did I expect there to be an overt 
response from the mysterious, wily Putin government.  The purpose of 
that ad was a strategic move - and within weeks I knew it worked and 
did exactly what it was meant to do!

It was picked up, moreover, read everywhere in former Sovietland, 
republished lavishly - and pondered, we like to surmise, in places 
high and low.

Now this:

[START]

MOSCOW - Robert Amsterdam, the Canadian lawyer representing former 
YUKOS CEO Mikhail Khodorkvosy, is convinced that the Russian 
authorities are treating his client in the way US authorities would 
treat Osama bin Laden.

YUKOS owners Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev, and company employee 
Alexei Pichugin are being held in extremely harsh remand conditions, 
Amsterdam told a news conference in Moscow, adding that none of the 
accused is likely to have their cases heard at an open and fair trial.
Lawyers for the three men held a joint news conference on Tuesday to 
inform the public on the remand conditions where their clients are 
being held. Tatiana Akimtseva, lawyer for Alexei Pichugin, and 
Lebedev's lawyer Yevgeny Baru, spoke on behalf of their defence 
teams, whereas Khodorkovsky's defence was represented by his Canadian 
lawyer Robert Amsterdam, who flew in from London a day earlier to 
attend the conference.

Amsterdam told the press that being a foreign national he had not 
been allowed to familiarize himself with Khodorkovsky's case file, 
nor to represent him in Russian courts or even visit him in his 
prison cell.

Nonetheless, the lawyer said, he will seek a meeting with his client 
by all lawful means and is also willing to personally assess the 
state of health of Menatep Group chairman Platon Lebedev and an 
employee of YUKOS' security department Alexei Pichugin, who are both 
in custody.

''They keep telling me it is impossible to enter the remand prison. 
But I will file a request to be allowed to meet all three and I hope 
this will be possible,'' Amsterdam said.

The lawyer said he had strong doubts that his client would get a fair 
and open trial in Russia. The way the prosecutor's office treats the 
accused casts doubt on any possibility of a fair and open trial of 
this case, Amsterdam said.

It is not a question of how many lawyers you have and how brilliant 
they are, Amsterdam continued. ''Mr Putin likes to compare this case 
with that of Enron. If this case was investigated in the same way, 
all those people would be free and we would have an opportunity to 
cooperate; there would not be any closed court sessions,'' the lawyer 
said.

Amsterdam also expressed indignation at the fact that Russia's 
''number one businessman is being taken to court in the way Osama bin 
Laden would be taken to an American court - at gunpoint''. He 
described Khodorkovsky as ''the embodiment of patriotism'', because 
he returned to Russia in spite of the threat of arrest and because 
the only thing he now seeks is an open trial.

The lawyers also spoke of the terrible conditions their clients are 
being kept in. Robert Amsterdam is convinced that Pichugin has been 
tortured while in prison. Pichugin's lawyer Tatyana Akimtseva 
reiterated that she had seen needle marks on Pichugin's body with her 
own eyes and had complained to a court about the use of psychotropic 
substances on her client. Akimtseva also said that Pichugin has lost 
about 30 kg in jail and that, according to medics, he is suffering 
from diabetes and tuberculosis.

Lawyer Yevgeniy Baru said that the health of his client, Platon 
Lebedev, was also deteriorating. Lebedev is currently being held in a 
prison hospital. He is suffering high blood pressure and the loss of 
his sight.

Khodorkovsky has so far not complained about his health. Moreover, 
according to a recent statement by a senior Justice Ministry 
official, the former YUKOS CEO is taking long walks in the prison 
yard. ''Even I do not always have a chance to spend so much time in 
the open air,'' sneered the official. Incidentally, Khodorkovsky's 
lawyers have taken note of that statement and hope that the European 
Court will evaluate similar statements by officials entrusted with 
ensuring lawfulness in Russia.

( http://russiajournal.com/news/cnews-article.shtml?nd=42679 )

[END]