News
- 20 June 2011, 17:36
- The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation
On June 15, 2011 a number of foreign and Russian mass communication media spread the news about the withdrawal of arrest of two yachts of Boris Berezovsky attached in February of this year by the competent authorities of France at the request of the Russian side.
Some French publishers reported that the company Shift Line Limited, which appealed against the decision of the French authorities about the arrest of two vessels worth about 14 million Euro, supposedly has proved in the court that these two yachts were bought by the company in 2009 and they do not belong to Berezovsky.
However, there are documents in the Russian General Prosecutor's office showing to the contrary. From the written statements of Boris Berezovsky and his authorized representative M. Kotlik submitted by them to the Highest Court of Justice of England and Wales, it is undoubtedly coming out that namely Berezovsky is the ultimate beneficial owner of the above mentioned yachts "Tander B" and "Lightning". These statements were composed, reconfirmed by an oath on the trustworthiness and signed by Berezovsky and Kotlik in March-April of 2010, and also certified by the seal of the British court in June of the same year. The Highest Court of Justice of England and Wales considered them as evidence while passing the judgment on the case of "Edmiston against Berezovsky".
In their turn Russian law-and-order bodies used these evidences with the purpose of tracing and confiscation of the property of the accused Berezovsky on the criminal case about the embezzlement of the property of "Aeroflot" in the structure of a criminal community. On the basis of the above mentioned the Russian court issued a decision about permission on attaching of arrest on the property. The General Prosecutor's office of Russia has sent these materials to its French colleagues with a request for providing of legal assistance. After thorough verification of the validity of the request which was carried out within 4 months, the French competent bodies arrested the yachts of Berezovsky in February 2011.
Mutually exclusive positions of the company “Shift Line Limited” and Berezovsky about the belonging of the yachts gives grounds to make conclusion that either the company that appealed against the attachment of arrest, misled the French justice, or Berezovsky gave false testimony to the English court. According to the British legislation, giving false evidences in the court is a serious crime against the administration of justice. It is remaining to hope that the English Justice finally will give an objective legal evaluation of the actions of Berezovsky, especially taking into account his recent interview to one of the Russian newspapers in which he stated: "I have no Idea what kind of yachts they are and why they were arrested. They are not mine!"
From its side the General Prosecutor's office of Russia, at the very date of receipt of the official notification about the accepted court decision, immediately forwarded to the Ministry of justice of France and the General Prosecutor's office attached to the court of appeal of AIX-EN-Provence a petition for cancellation of the verdict and the continuation of arrest imposed on the mentioned property with application of necessary documents.
Among these materials there are the mentioned testimonies of Berezovsky given to the British court, in which along with the confirmation of belonging to him of the yachts "Tander B" and "Lightning", Berezovsky said that due to the risk of seizure and confiscation of his assets, he undertook the precaution steps complicating the identification of his property. With this purpose he used different structures as nominal owners.
Apparently, this explains the emergence in France of "new owners" of the property of Berezovsky.
The Russian side expects that the French competent bodies will give an objective evaluation of the stated circumstances. For this we have all reasons, because the primary complaint of the company Shift Line Limited in April of the current year was rejected by the French court on the basis that the dispute is referred to the jurisdiction of the Russian courts.
The Prosecutor General's Office
of the Russian Federation
The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation
20 June 2011, 17:36
The General Prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation insists on continuation of the arrest of the yachts of Boris Berezovsky in France
On June 15, 2011 a number of foreign and Russian mass communication media spread the news about the withdrawal of arrest of two yachts of Boris Berezovsky attached in February of this year by the competent authorities of France at the request of the Russian side.
Some French publishers reported that the company Shift Line Limited, which appealed against the decision of the French authorities about the arrest of two vessels worth about 14 million Euro, supposedly has proved in the court that these two yachts were bought by the company in 2009 and they do not belong to Berezovsky.
However, there are documents in the Russian General Prosecutor's office showing to the contrary. From the written statements of Boris Berezovsky and his authorized representative M. Kotlik submitted by them to the Highest Court of Justice of England and Wales, it is undoubtedly coming out that namely Berezovsky is the ultimate beneficial owner of the above mentioned yachts "Tander B" and "Lightning". These statements were composed, reconfirmed by an oath on the trustworthiness and signed by Berezovsky and Kotlik in March-April of 2010, and also certified by the seal of the British court in June of the same year. The Highest Court of Justice of England and Wales considered them as evidence while passing the judgment on the case of "Edmiston against Berezovsky".
In their turn Russian law-and-order bodies used these evidences with the purpose of tracing and confiscation of the property of the accused Berezovsky on the criminal case about the embezzlement of the property of "Aeroflot" in the structure of a criminal community. On the basis of the above mentioned the Russian court issued a decision about permission on attaching of arrest on the property. The General Prosecutor's office of Russia has sent these materials to its French colleagues with a request for providing of legal assistance. After thorough verification of the validity of the request which was carried out within 4 months, the French competent bodies arrested the yachts of Berezovsky in February 2011.
Mutually exclusive positions of the company “Shift Line Limited” and Berezovsky about the belonging of the yachts gives grounds to make conclusion that either the company that appealed against the attachment of arrest, misled the French justice, or Berezovsky gave false testimony to the English court. According to the British legislation, giving false evidences in the court is a serious crime against the administration of justice. It is remaining to hope that the English Justice finally will give an objective legal evaluation of the actions of Berezovsky, especially taking into account his recent interview to one of the Russian newspapers in which he stated: "I have no Idea what kind of yachts they are and why they were arrested. They are not mine!"
From its side the General Prosecutor's office of Russia, at the very date of receipt of the official notification about the accepted court decision, immediately forwarded to the Ministry of justice of France and the General Prosecutor's office attached to the court of appeal of AIX-EN-Provence a petition for cancellation of the verdict and the continuation of arrest imposed on the mentioned property with application of necessary documents.
Among these materials there are the mentioned testimonies of Berezovsky given to the British court, in which along with the confirmation of belonging to him of the yachts "Tander B" and "Lightning", Berezovsky said that due to the risk of seizure and confiscation of his assets, he undertook the precaution steps complicating the identification of his property. With this purpose he used different structures as nominal owners.
Apparently, this explains the emergence in France of "new owners" of the property of Berezovsky.
The Russian side expects that the French competent bodies will give an objective evaluation of the stated circumstances. For this we have all reasons, because the primary complaint of the company Shift Line Limited in April of the current year was rejected by the French court on the basis that the dispute is referred to the jurisdiction of the Russian courts.
