US lawyer Zeltser carried into court in arms of police guards

The state of health of the US citizen Emanuel Zeltser tried in Minsk is so bad that police guards carry him into the court in arms.

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.

The US Embassy: We cannot follow Zeltser’s health status

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.

As the Charter’97 press-centre informed, on March 12 Mr Zeltser and his secretary boarded Mr Berezovsky's aircraft in London and flew to Minsk, where they were arrested. 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 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”.

Zeltser’s relatives, in particular, his brother Mark Zeltser, link 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.