guriaaa
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#23490236 · 16 Jan 2011, 16:00 · · პროფილი · პირადი მიმოწერა · ჩატი
ებრაელების დაცვის მხარემ მოითხოვა პრემიერ გილაურის, ფინანსთა მინისტრ ბაინდურაშვილისა და მისი გმირი მოადგილის დაკითხვა
რაზეც უარი მიიღო
ამასობაში ფოქს ნიუსმა მოგვთხარა ამ საქმის გამო
Israeli Businessmen on Trial in Tbilisi
January 11, 2011
Amy Kellogg
The trial of two prominent Israeli businessmen got underway in the capital of the former Soviet state of Georgia today, with most of the defendents' requests for questioning certain witnesses rejected, according to their local lawyer Archil Kbilashvili.
This is a case that highlights the apparent perils of conducting deals in a country, which now cooperates with NATO, and a country which at times has been called a beacon of democracy, in a part of the world where interesting investment opportunities exist, but where the occasional civil war and allegations of corruption are still a part of the landscape.
Georgia’s democratic credentials, however, have been increasingly called into question, after such events as the closure of an independent, opposition television station, in which News Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, had a stake, in 2007, after a raid by riot police, and the repression of political rallies.
Israeli businessman Ron Fuchs was arrested on October 14th, in the Georgian city of Batumi, along with his partner Ze’ev Frenkiel, in the midst of a long-running commercial dispute.
Former Israeli Consul General in New York, and Fox News Contributor Alon Pinkus, told Fox News, that if Georgia wants to be part of the "enlightened world," it should release the men immediately.
But Georgian authorities allege that the two men attempted to bribe the Deputy Minister of Economy with the purpose of getting Georgia to stop challenging an arbitration settlement of $100 million owed to Fuchs and another of his partners, Greek national Ioanis Kardassopoulos. The settlement was a result of Georgia’s reneging of a contract it had signed with Fuchs and Kardassopoulos in 1992, shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Georgian prosecution argues that the deal was done during a period of instability, from which Fuchs and Kardassopoulos benefitted.
Fuchs and Kardassopoulos, through their company Tramex, secured a deal for a concession on an oil pipeline that goes through Georgia.
Georgia revoked the contract in 1996. Tramex and the Georgian authorities were locked in a dispute over settlement for years. In March of 2010, the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, an institution of the World Bank, concluded that Georgia should pay Fuchs and Kardassopoulos a total of $100 million for losses and legal fees. The government of Georgia has not paid that sum, and has indicated it wants to annul the arbitration ruling.
Last September, Fuchs and a business partner Ze’ev Frenkiel, met with Georgia’s Deputy Finance Minister, Avtandil Kharaidze, in a hotel in Istanbul, Turkey, to discuss the case. At that point, the Georgian authorities claim, Fuchs and Frenkiel attempted to bribe Kharaidze millions of dollars to convince the Georgian government not to dispute the settlement. Unbeknownst to Fuchs and Frenkiel, Kharaidze or one of his assistants, secretly taped the meeting. Here is the video of that meeting, which was provided by a firm working for the Georgian government.
Click here to watch the video.
Fuch's Georgian lawyer Archil Kbiliashvili does not dispute the veracity of the Istanbul video. But he claims that the discussion was not about a bribe, but rather a payment to the Georgian government which, he claims, would be done above board with documentation as part of the settlement.
Subsequent to that meeting, Fuchs and Frenkiel were invited to return to Georgia to resolve matters once and for all. Their defense has a letter which they say was sent by the Georgian Prime Minister with this request to settle this dispute. It was at that meeting, which took place in the Georgian Black Sea City of Batumi on October 14th, 2010, when Fuchs and Frenkiel were arrested.
Kbilashvili and Fuchs' family lawyer from Israel both called it a provocation and a set up.
Kbiliashvili said, "They were invited to Georgia. The Prime Minister issued an invitation letter to them in order for the settlement agreement to be finalized in Georgia. Instead of the settlement being signed, they were put in jail."
The Georgian Prosecutor's offfice claims that letter was the expression of a willingness to negotiate on settlement and had nothing to do with the arrests in Batumi.
Fuchs’ and Frenkiel’s defense has argued the alleged bribery tape from the earlier Istanbul meeting was made unlawfully and therefore should not be used as evidence in the trial of the two men. Kardassopoulos, by the way, is also wanted by the Georgian authorities who consider him a fugitive of justice.
Advocates for Fuchs and Frenkiel insist that the case has a commercial and not a law enforcement purpose, and that Georgia simply does not want to pay the money it has been deemed to owe Fuchs and Kardassopoulos. They also believe Georgia is using Soviet-style, Stalinist tactics to avoid paying a judgement, thereby abusing its own legal system. They say Fuchs and Frenkiel were entrapped, deceitfully lured to Georgia with the purpose of throwing them in jail, after authorities carried out an illegal sting.
International human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson, who is also on Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s legal team, is representing the Israeli businessmen, and has claimed their case breaches European-wide human rights law under the European Convention on Human Rights. He was recently quoted as saying, “They entrapped him (Fuchs)—they claimed he was corrupt.” Robertson went on to say, “It’s interesting that human rights law should now come to the assistance of businesspeople.”
But the Georgians argue that the tape was in fact obtained legally, used in full compliance with the standards of the European Convention. They have run it on state television.
Georgia's First Deputy Chief Prosecutor Davit Sakvarelidze tells Fox News the prosecution's case is strong, and that they possess two video tapes, two audio tapes and some witness statements, including one from the former head of the Georgian Oil Company.
Sakvarelidze tells Fox, "The media and the family of these men have tried to shift the whole thing in a political direction, saying Georgia doesn't want to pay the settlement and that's why they got arrested. That is not true. This is a standard bribery case."
He went on, "Georgia is a different country now. Before it was easy to bribe officials. Not anymore."
However, an international businessman familiar with Georgia, a man who did not want to be identified due to the sensitivities of the case and the general landscape in former Soviet states, told Fox News that the commercial climate in Georgia is menacing. He claims that businessmen are routinely arrested, blackmailed, that tapes purporting bribery are often made, and sometimes distorted and spliced together, in order to extort money which then goes directly into government coffers. He claims the money does not line the pockets of officials, but rather that it goes directly into Georgia’s state budget which is underfunded. Those claims have been heard elsewhere but cannot be substantiated.
According to that source, however, this is the first time foreign businessmen have been arrested in this way.
But Vakhtang Lejava, Advisor to Georgia's Prime Minister, official tells Fox News, this alleged pattern of extorting money from businessmen is fiction. He said, “Georgia had $600 million of foreign investment in 2010. We have GDP growth of 6.5% despite the global economic crisis and the fact that Georgia does not have natural resources. If those processes (extortion) were dominant, these figures would not exist.”
Lejava also claims that Georgia has a current account deficit. “We need foreign investment. Without a friendly business environment, we can’t have that.” He adds, "According to recent surveys done Georgia's population is one of the most optimistic about the governement's ability to fight corruption. And that the World Bank has rated it 12th easiest place in the world to do business."
But, according to supporters of Fuchs, foreign investments are not safe in Georgia, and the Georgian government, in need of development and investment, is only hurting itself by its “lack of respect for international law.”
Alon Pinkus said, "Georgia is in a troublesome situation in the last decade as we all know. There is no immediate impact upon Georgian-Israeli relations on the diplomatic level, although, the Foreign Minister has sent a very harsh letter of protest, the President of Israel Mr. Peres has appealed to his counterpart Mr. Saakashvili of Georgia. I think the major effect and the consequences of this would be on businessmen willing to do business in Georgia. If I were a British, American, Canadian, German, Israeli businessman I would think three times before doing any business in Georgia before this is resolved."
Israel's Ambassador to Georgia, Itzhak Gerberg, who attended court today, added,
"I don't think it will cause problems in the bilateral relations but it looks like it might discourage Israeli investors and Israeli businessmen to come because actually those two people in the court are claiming they were officially invited by the government of Georgia."
The trial will continue Thursday. It could go on, potentially, for weeks. The lawyer for Fuchs and Frenkiel says if they lose their case in Tblisi, they will appeal to the European Court for Human Rights.
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ყველაზე ცუდიიიიიიიიი ფრაზა
Alon Pinkus said, "Georgia is in a troublesome situation in the last decade as we all know. There is no immediate impact upon Georgian-Israeli relations on the diplomatic level, although, the Foreign Minister has sent a very harsh letter of protest, the President of Israel Mr. Peres has appealed to his counterpart Mr. Saakashvili of Georgia. I think the major effect and the consequences of this would be on businessmen willing to do business in Georgia. If I were a British, American, Canadian, German, Israeli businessman I would think three times before doing any business in Georgia before this is resolved."
ალონ პინკუსი ერთ-ერთი გავლენიანი ებრაელი დიპლომატი და ბიზნესმენია
This post has been edited by guriaaa on 16 Jan 2011, 16:02
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No pasarán!
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