Corruption drive gathers pace with extradition of Borodin (580 words)

Published: 1/19/2001

Late last night the US courts returned Pavel Borodin, President Yeltsin's former property chief and currently President of the Russian-Belarus union, to prison, setting his extradition hearings for 25 January. The US State department has stated that possession of a diplomatic passport does not automatically confer diplomatic status, and so Borodin does not enjoy immunity. So as long as the Swiss can prove that they have a real case against Borodin, he should be Geneva-bound shortly. Putin has yet to say anything in public, although he had a number of opportunities. Last night, he met with key Duma deputies, and Irina Khakamada, who was at the meeting, said that Putin had said that Borodin had made a mistake in deciding to travel, and that it was all in the hands of the courts. This suggests that Putin does not intend to intervene to protect his former boss, which gives us some hope that deep down, he does believe in the rule of law. Most Russian politicians are outraged, especially in the Duma. A lot of this may be because they are terrified by the thought that they too may be brought to justice one day. If someone as powerful as Borodin can be arrested, then there are many other Russian officials who should restrict themselves to holidaying inside the FSU for the time being. Borodin was travelling on an ordinary passport, with a tourist visa. He apparently has a diplomatic passport, but did not get a US visa for this passport in time. Apparently he would have been arrested in any case, as diplomatic immunity only applies to those who are accredited to an embassy. Borodin probably also thought that he was there as an official guest of the government, in which case he would have been protected by the protocol that officially invited guests of the government have diplomatic privilege. It was a reasonable mistake - in Russia the government and the campaign to elect the President are the same thing, but in America, they are very separate. The only hope now for Borodin is that the US court will decide that there is no case to answer. Borodin is accused of money laundering, which requires that the money be acquired illegally. So the Swiss will have to show that Borodin came by his money illegally, but their problem is that the Russians have said that Borodin has no case to answer. I think that the Swiss have evidence that Borodin acquired his money as bribes, because the Swiss contractors for the Kremlin renovation, Mabetex, listed these bribes as legitimate business expenses for tax purposes. This is legal in Switzerland. So Mabetex have gone on record as paying these bribes, and the Swiss can easily find a Russian law that shows that Borodin was breaking the law when he took them. On the subject of legal reform, Putin yesterday sent the Duma changes to the legal code, which will prevent prosecutors from putting anyone in custody without a court decision. This, for instance, would have stopped them locking up Gusinsky. Another piece of good news is that Pashin, a liberal judge in Moscow who was fired last year, has been reinstated. We may therefore be in the middle of a rush of good news, which started when it was announced that Adamov, the minister of atomic energy, was questioned by the prosecutors. Adamov is close to the Family, and although we do not think that Putin is about to go after the core of the Family, he does seem to be attacking its most trusted advisers.

Article ID: 2303