GOR PROTESTS KUZNETSOV DETENTION BY GEORGIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 001004

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV RS GG
SUBJECT: GOR PROTESTS KUZNETSOV DETENTION BY GEORGIA

Classified By: A/DCM Alice G. Wells for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)

--------------
GOR manufactures outrage
--------------


1. (SBU) The Russian MFA has sharply protested the detention
of Nashi activist Aleksandr Kuznetsov by Georgian authorities
on April 16, claiming the Georgian administration was "trying
to accuse its external enemy, Russia, of everything" in
claiming Kuznetsov had traveled to Georgia to plan
provocations. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei
Nesterenko, issuing a travel warning April 17 for Georgia on
the grounds that Russian travelers might "become a target of
amoral and disgusting provocations of Georgian security
services," suggested Georgian special forces were under
instruction to extract "proof" at any cost for Russian
interference in Georgian internal affairs.


2. (SBU) Chairman of the State Duma Youth Affairs Committee
Pavel Tarakanov repeated Kuznetsov's claims that he had
legally entered Georgia to promote friendship between the
peoples of Georgia, South Ossetia and Russia via a joint
motor race, and allegedly been beaten and forced to provide
false testimony about planning provocations. Echoing
Nesterenko, Tarakanov asserted that the Saakashvili
government, unable to solve its domestic problems, had staged
the event to present Russia as "an enemy guilty of all
Georgian misfortunes."

-------------- --------------
Nashi engagement in Georgian anti-government protests
-------------- --------------


3. (SBU) On April 17, about 300 Nashi members gathered in
front of the Georgian embassy in Moscow to demand the release
of Kuznetsov. Nashi leader Nikita Borovikov was careful to
accuse "Georgian authorities, not the Georgian people" of the
arrest and insisted Russia wanted to "be friends with the
Georgian people," while demonstrators waved banners stating
"Russians, Georgians are brothers forever!", or "Friendship
between Russians and Georgians - only in this way will we
win." Nashi youth movement spokesperson Kristina Potupchik
asserted Kuznetsov's testimony of "preparing provocations"
could only have been obtained by "threatening Kuznetsov's
life."

--------------
Ekho Moskvy pokes holes
--------------


4. (SBU) While Kuznetsov's allegedly forced testimony and
the Nashi protests in Moscow were widely shown on TV, the
print press did not devote much attention to his plight.
Radio station Ekho Moskvy touched upon the issue twice over
the weekend, posing the question whose version of events
listeners thought more trustworthy, the Georgian or Russian
MFA's. 92 percent of the mostly liberal-leaning listeners
voted for the Georgian view through the internet. Poking
holes in the Russian story, Ekho Moskvy noted the belated
reaction of both the Russian MFA with its statement, and of
Nashi with its protests that took place after Kuznetsov was
already released into Russian hands. With a view to
Kuznetsov's speedy release without any charges leveled,
Kremlin critic Yuliya Latynina in a second Ekho Moskvy
program doubted the veracity of his allegations of threats to
his life, and noted Kuznetsov's confirmation of widespread
rumors that Vladimir Surkov from the Presidential
Administration helped finance Nashi.

--------------
Comment
--------------


5. (C) While only a few liberal outlets such as Ekho Moskvy
challenged the official version of events surrounding
Kuznetsov's detention, the reluctance of the major print
press to follow the story likely reflects the lack of
credibility that the MFA's position enjoys.
RUBIN