Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09VLADIVOSTOK73
2009-07-07 04:52:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Vladivostok
Cable title:  

ANTI-CORRUPTION BOSS JAILED ON TRUMPED-UP CHARGES

Tags:  ECON PGOV RS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2345
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDBU RUEHFK RUEHHM RUEHKSO RUEHLN RUEHNAG RUEHPB RUEHPOD
RUEHYG
DE RUEHVK #0073 1880452
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 070452Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1167
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZU/ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION COLLECTIVE
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 1271
UNCLAS VLADIVOSTOK 000073

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON PGOV RS
SUBJECT: ANTI-CORRUPTION BOSS JAILED ON TRUMPED-UP CHARGES

Summary. After a three-year investigation and a pre-trial
detention of twenty months, a Vladivostok court on June 22
convicted former Far Eastern Customs Directorate Chief General
Ernest Bakhshetsyan on charges of abuse of office and sentenced
him to five years in prison. Bakhshetsyan served as Chief of
the Far Eastern Customs Service Directorate from 2004 to 2007
and was tasked with strengthening his office's fight against
smuggling and corruption and to increase tariff revenues. Most
observers believe that the charges were spurious and pushed by
local businessmen who were threatened by Bakhshetsyan's genuine
crackdown on smuggling. Bakhshetsyan's attorney said after the
conviction that he will file an appeal to a higher court in
Russia and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg
following that.

Pressure From the Inside
--------------
His fight against corruption pitted his office against an
organized group of smugglers that controls a significant portion
of goods entering Russia from China and reportedly included
former Primorye Duma Deputy Vladimir Khmel, current Deputy
Gennadiy Lysak and his son-in-law, and former Federation Council
Senator for Primorye Igor Ivanov. The task was made more
difficult by the fact that many of his own subordinates were
also involved in smuggling. His efforts posed a serious
challenge to those local officials and businessmen who had
managed to make `special arrangements' with Customs officials,
law enforcement, and politicians for easier importation of goods
at reduced tariff rates. According to Bakhshetsyan, former FSB
Regional Director Yuriy Aleshin and Primorye Regional Prosecutor
Aleksander Anikin tried to pressure him into easing up on the
crackdown, but he refused to accept the bribes offered. When
the carrot approach proved unsuccessful, smugglers attempted to
use their Moscow patrons to have him removed from his position.
When that also failed, they accused Bakhshetsyan of illegally
allowing three companies to import goods through Nakhodka's
customs without inspection or oversight.

Problems for Being Effective
--------------
Bakhshetsyan proved effective with both of his taskings --
prosecuting corruption and increasing revenues. On his
initiative, several high-ranking Russian Far East Customs
officials, including the head of Customs in Nakhodka, were
relieved of their duties in 2005 and some faced prosecution.
The Russian General Prosecutor's Office brought charges against
Ivanov and Gennadiy Lysak, who subsequently fled the country and
were wanted by Russian law enforcement agencies. Revenues to
federal coffers from his Customs Directorate increased during
his tenure. By reducing corruption, smuggled goods, and
fraudulent customs claims, revenues increased from 48 billion
rubles the year before his tenure, to 74.5 billion during his
first year and 100.5 billion during his last full year in 2006.

Naming Names
--------------
At a May press conference in Moscow Bakhshetsyan and former RFE
Customs' Analytical Department Chief Oleg Yeliseyev specifically
named those high-ranking officials who played a role in his
prosecution. Since his initial arrest, Primorye's FSB Director
Yuriy Aleshin was promoted to an executive position with the FSB
in Moscow; Primorye Prosecutor Aleksander Anikin was promoted to
the General Prosecutor's Office in Moscow; the two men whom
Bakhshetsyan's office investigated -- Gennadiy Lysak and Igor
Ivanov -- have since returned to Russia and been acquitted of
all charges.
Comment. Bakhshetsyan's case was mentioned in the State
Department's Human Rights Report in 2007 and 2008. PolOff
offered to meet with him during his trial to discuss the case,
but Bakhshetsyan decided it would be imprudent for him to meet
at that time. Power politics and political maneuvering remain
the keys to advancement and survival in the Far East. The rule
of law is still weak and champions of civil society, like
Bakhshetsyan, are hard pressed to accomplish their missions
without an unequivocal message from Moscow that corruption will
no longer be the way that business gets done.

ARMBRUSTER