NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA UNDER INQUIRY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 004693

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/24/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINR RS
SUBJECT: NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA UNDER INQUIRY


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Classified By: POL Officer Robert Patterson for reasons 1.4 (b and d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Things are getting uncomfortable for the
leadership at Nezavisimaya Gazeta (NG),one of Russia's
leading "opposition" newspapers, in what appears to be an
attempt by associates of Agriculture Minister Gordeyev to
silence criticism of his business activities. NG deputy
editor and journalist Boris Zemtsov, who this summer had
written articles criticizing Gordeyev's business activities,
was arrested on September 12 and charged with extortion and
bribery related to an alleged arrangement with Anas
Nurutdinov, Gordeyev's assistant. Top leaders at the
newspaper -- including the owner Konstantin Remchukov -- are
feeling the pressure and appear shaken by what they see as a
politicized attack. END SUMMARY.

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The Case Against NG
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2. (U) According to press reports, Zemtsov was arrested while
leaving a restaurant meeting with Nurutdinov, allegedly with
an envelope full of cash in his possession. He was held
without bail because the court considered him a "flight risk"
and had concerns that he could pressure witnesses if
released. On September 19, the court indicted Zemtsov for
extortion; he is accused of demanding a payment of $30,000
from Nurutdinov in exchange for not publishing negative
articles about Gordeyev over the next two months. The
authorities searched Zemtsov's office and apartment,
reportedly finding narcotics and a large knife (technically
an illegal weapon) -- potential justification for further
indictments.


3. (U) Zemtsov has publicly denied any wrongdoing. He claims
that Nurutdinov and Yuliya Goncharova, the press secretary of
the state-owned company Soyuzplodoimport, had come to him
with a business proposition to publish "informational -
advertising" materials about the work of the Agriculture
Ministry and Soyuzplodoimport in NG. Zemtsov further claims
that he insisted on a transparent payment process through a
bank or the bookkeeper at the newspaper. In comments to the
press, he has characterized the case against him as a
"provocation" and NG has taken the same line in its
publications.


4. (U) Remchukov complained to Embassy officers that the
investigation and treatment of Zemtsov has been marked with
disregard for administrative procedures. The authorities
initially denied Zemtsov access to his lawyer; she was only
able to meet with him for the first time late on September
14, two days after his arrest. They surprised the defense
team with the announcement of the hearing and denied them
timely information. For example, Remchukov told POLFF the
authorities faxed a message at 10:07 in the morning to give
notice of a 10:15 hearing. Zemtsov had no legal
representation when his indictment was read, according to
press accounts.


5. (U) Zemtsov is appealing his incarceration, seeing no
reason for a suspect in a white-collar crime case to be held
in pre-trial confinement. Remchukov voiced concern to POLOFF
that Zemtsov would soon be moved from the relative comfort of
the pre-trial detention "isolator" to darker and more
dangerous holdings at one of Moscow's jails. (According to
press, Zemtsov now shares a cell with he describes as "sane"
bunkmates and says he is considering working on a
long-planned book project. It is doubtful he would be as
comfortable at the Butyrka prison.)

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Remchukov Under Scrutiny
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6. (C) On the evening of September 19, Remchukov was
questioned by the authorities about the extortion case.
Afterwards, he came to a reception at the Ambassador's
residence and was visibly upset. He told several Embassy
officers that he had been interrogated for several hours and
- his lawyers counted - asked 312 questions. He said he had
no doubt that the case against Zemtsov was politically
motivated, "an attempt to silence" his newspaper, but he was
not sure of the source of the problem. He expressed
confidence that the case was "under Putin's control" as well
as the Procurator's office.


7. (C) In a telephone conversation with the Ambassador on
September 20, Remchukov had regained his composure. He
reiterated his uncertainty about the motivation behind the
legal case, but said he considered it a "shot across the bow"
of his newspaper. He said he plans to fight back with his
legal team and that he was confident in his abilities and

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those of NG. He also told the Ambassador that he was not
looking for any U.S. assistance in the matter.


8. (C) COMMENT: Ekho Moskvy editor-in-chief Aleksey
Venediktov and political scientist Andrey Piontkovskiy told
Embassy officers that they see the case as revenge by
Gordeyev for Zemtsov's articles against him and his
interests. The fact that Zemtsov was willing to meet and
negotiate with Nurutdinov - allegedly for advertising in the
paper - is confusing given the correspondent's long-standing
public criticism of the Agriculture Ministry. In his
comments to Embassy staff, Remchukov admitted that there
might be something to the charges, but insisted that he would
hold the authorities accountable for the procedures by which
they handled this case. To that end, he said that he had
bought a copy of the criminal code and would be carrying it
with him over the coming weeks.


9. (C) If in fact Gordeyev is behind this indictment, it
would not be the first time that he has successfully used the
judicial system to attack his political enemies. Gordeyev
removed a rival for his ministerial post, Leonid Kholod, from
contention some years back by engineering an indictment for
murder. To the surprise of many, Kholod was acquitted of the
charges, but not before suffering a stress-induced heart
attack and seeing his political ambitions completely
derailed. END COMMENT.
Russell