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Berezovsky would not comment alleged visit to Minsk

 

Russian self-exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky would not comment on the report that he testified at the trial of Emanuel Zeltser in Minsk, BelaPAN said.

Russia`s Kommersant quoted him as saying that he would not comment on his movements around the world, pointing to "persecution on the part of the FSB," Russia`s Federal Security Service.

The American lawyer`s brother, Mark Zeltser, said that the Russian businessman testified at the trial on Monday.

Neither the Belarusian Prosecutor General`s Office nor the KGB would comment the report.

The closed-door trial of Mr. Zeltser and his secretary, Russian national Vladlena Funk, began on July 30. They have been held in custody in Minsk since this past March.

Mr. Zeltser and Ms. Funk are facing charges of industrial espionage and the use of “knowingly false official documents.” The man also is to answer a charge of smuggling illegal drugs into Belarus. The pair deny their guilt.

Mark Zeltser claims that Boris Berezovsky orchestrated the arrest of Emanuel Zeltser over the assets of the late Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili. When Mr. Patarkatsishvili died, his assets became the subject of a dispute pitting the widow backed by Mr. Berezovsky, against his step cousin, Joseph Kay, who was represented by Mr. Zeltser.

On May 14, the Tbilisi City Court in Georgia recognized Joseph Kay as a legitimate executor of the late Georgian billionaire’s assets.