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Viewing cable 09VLADIVOSTOK83, JAILED CORRUPTION FIGHTER'S LAWYER SPEAKS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09VLADIVOSTOK83 2009-07-30 02:12 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Vladivostok
VZCZCXRO9738
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDBU RUEHFK RUEHHM RUEHKSO RUEHLN RUEHNAG RUEHPB RUEHPOD
RUEHYG
DE RUEHVK #0083 2110212
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300212Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1179
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZU/ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION COLLECTIVE
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 1284
UNCLAS VLADIVOSTOK 000083 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM RS
SUBJECT: JAILED CORRUPTION FIGHTER'S LAWYER SPEAKS 
 
REF: VLADIVOSTOK 079 
 
1.   Polof and FSN met on July 27 with Yaroslav Gerin, the 
lawyer for jailed anti-corruption investigator Aleksandr 
Astafyev, who gave an update on his client's case (reftel).  He 
stated that he was denied access to Astafiev on two occasions 
despite the constitutional guarantee allowing lawyer/client 
contact.   Currently Astafyev is allowed contact only with 
representatives of the prosecution.  As for his legal argument, 
Gerin contends that even if Astafiev were to be found guilty on 
charges of receiving merchandise from a client, the mandated 
penalty is merely admonition, demotion, or termination of 
employment.  Furthermore, according to him the original 
complainant in the case, Sergey Sopchuk, has no official 
connection with the company that purchased equipment for the 
Witness Protection Center named in the complaint and therefore 
cannot legally file such a complaint. 
 
2.  Two weeks ago the lawyer filed a motion to dismiss the case 
due to its many procedural violations to Vladivostok City 
prosecutor Dmitry Romanchenko for his consideration.  If that is 
declined, he will file again with Moscow's Federal Investigation 
Department Head Aleksandr Bastrykin.  Gerin is a member of the 
Association of Retired MVD Officers, and is hoping that this 
will allow him access to, and support from, high-level 
officials, calling it a "green corridor" in delivering documents 
to decision makers in Moscow. 
 
3.  Regarding conditions for Astafyev, Gerin mentioned that 
after the local press began to cover the story, he was moved 
from a basement cell to a more comfortable one on an upper level 
which he reportedly is sharing with former Customs Official 
General Ernest Bakhshetsyan (also an anti-corruption 
investigator recently jailed), and another law enforcement 
official. 
 
4.  Gerin mentioned that he was not been pressured by 
authorities for taking Astafyev as a client, though, in his 
opinion, it will likely affect the career of Astafyev's son who 
currently serves in the marine border guard service.  The lawyer 
mentioned that the contract killings popular in the wild 1990's 
have been replaced with career- and morale-destroying legal 
cases as a means to bully opponents into submission.  He ended 
the meeting recalling a saying used by Soviet security forces in 
1930s when threatening those whom they pressured: "That you are 
currently free is not based on your merit, but is merely a 
result of inefficiency in our work." 
 
MILLER