EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - US public relations firm APCO has begun lobbying EU institutions over the ownership of a Georgian TV station, in a case linking curious events in London, Tbilisi and Minsk. Inna Gudavadze, the widow of Georgian oligarch Badri Patarkatsishvili, has hired the PR company to help create political pressure around her legal battle to secure her late husband's assets. Anti-Saakashvili protester in Tbilisi. Imedi used to be the movement's main media outlet In May, Ms Gudavadze's lawyers met in Brussels with the EU's special representative for Georgia and with senior officials in the European Commission to discuss Imedi TV. The Patarkatsishvili-owned TV station was taken over by his step-cousin, Joseph Kay, last year on the basis of a contested will, sparking a legal challenge in the Georgian courts. Imedi used to be the Georgian opposition's main TV outlet. But since the takeover it has stopped broadcasting anti-government material, such as footage of masked men beating up opposition protesters at night.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - US public relations firm APCO has begun lobbying EU institutions over the ownership of a Georgian TV station, in a case linking curious events in London, Tbilisi and Minsk.
Inna Gudavadze, the widow of Georgian oligarch Badri Patarkatsishvili, has hired the PR company to help create political pressure around her legal battle to secure her late husband's assets.
Anti-Saakashvili protester in Tbilisi. Imedi used to be the movement's main media outlet
In May, Ms Gudavadze's lawyers met in Brussels with the EU's special representative for Georgia and with senior officials in the European Commission to discuss Imedi TV.
The Patarkatsishvili-owned TV station was taken over by his step-cousin, Joseph Kay, last year on the basis of a contested will, sparking a legal challenge in the Georgian courts.
Imedi used to be the Georgian opposition's main TV outlet. But since the takeover it has stopped broadcasting anti-government material, such as footage of masked men beating up opposition protesters at night.
When the 52-year-old Patarkatsishvili died at his mansion in southeast England, Zeltser called Joseph Kay, a former business associate and half-cousin of the billionaire, in Florida. The two Americans flew to London and informed the widow and her lawyers about Zeltser's documents. They demanded access to accounts and companies from the Caribbean to the Caucasus. Kay gained control of a TV station in the Republic of Georgia and then sold it, infuriating the family. In response, the billionaire's widow, children and mother sued in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to stop the pair from seizing other assets. They called Zeltser's documents "invalid and fraudulent," noting that several "appear to be forgeries" since the magnate was not in New York the day he allegedly signed them. [...] Zeltser's lawyers have accused Berezovsky and his British lawyers of orchestrating his arrest to gain control of the estate or to win consulting contracts in Belarus, among other supposed motives. All have denied any wrongdoing, and U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Sullivan noted his "strong disapproval" of Zeltser's legal team last May for making such "unsupported allegations of misconduct." However, the judge also suspended the family lawsuit against Zeltser pending his release from custody. [...] "We have told the Belarusian authorities that it is absolutely essential to release Mr. Zeltser so his health problems can be addressed," Jonathan Moore, the acting U.S. ambassador in Minsk, said in a telephone interview. "His continued incarceration complicates an already difficult bilateral relationship." Oleg Kravchenko, the senior Belarusian envoy in Washington, insisted that his government has acted responsibly. Zeltser was "given due legal process under our legislation" and "consular access has been provided repeatedly," he said. "This is what we have to do, and this is what we have done." Zeltser's court-appointed lawyer in Minsk, Dmitry Goryachko, visits him twice a week. The lawyer is barred from bringing newspapers, books or medicine, and a KGB officer monitors every meeting. In a telephone interview hours after a recent visit, Goryachko said Zeltser suffers constant pain and severe mental stress.
The two Americans flew to London and informed the widow and her lawyers about Zeltser's documents. They demanded access to accounts and companies from the Caribbean to the Caucasus. Kay gained control of a TV station in the Republic of Georgia and then sold it, infuriating the family.
In response, the billionaire's widow, children and mother sued in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to stop the pair from seizing other assets. They called Zeltser's documents "invalid and fraudulent," noting that several "appear to be forgeries" since the magnate was not in New York the day he allegedly signed them.
[...]
Zeltser's lawyers have accused Berezovsky and his British lawyers of orchestrating his arrest to gain control of the estate or to win consulting contracts in Belarus, among other supposed motives. All have denied any wrongdoing, and U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Sullivan noted his "strong disapproval" of Zeltser's legal team last May for making such "unsupported allegations of misconduct."
However, the judge also suspended the family lawsuit against Zeltser pending his release from custody.
"We have told the Belarusian authorities that it is absolutely essential to release Mr. Zeltser so his health problems can be addressed," Jonathan Moore, the acting U.S. ambassador in Minsk, said in a telephone interview. "His continued incarceration complicates an already difficult bilateral relationship."
Oleg Kravchenko, the senior Belarusian envoy in Washington, insisted that his government has acted responsibly. Zeltser was "given due legal process under our legislation" and "consular access has been provided repeatedly," he said. "This is what we have to do, and this is what we have done."
Zeltser's court-appointed lawyer in Minsk, Dmitry Goryachko, visits him twice a week. The lawyer is barred from bringing newspapers, books or medicine, and a KGB officer monitors every meeting. In a telephone interview hours after a recent visit, Goryachko said Zeltser suffers constant pain and severe mental stress.
