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Putin Arrests Russian Media Magnate

June 15, 2000

Russian authorities have arrested Vladimir Gusinsky, Russia's top independent media magnate and a leader of the Jewish community. Gusinsky, arrested on June 13, has not yet been formally charged, and prosecutors said he might not be for up to 10 days. The imprisonment of Gusinsky unleashed a furor around Russian President Vladimir Putin as politicians, businessmen, and Gusinsky's lawyers accused Putin of trying to crush an independent media voice. The arrest is the latest in a series of steps by the Kremlin to silence Gusinsky and his news media outlets.

Gusinsky, 47, whose holdings in television, magazines, newspapers and radio have been critical of the Kremlin staff and Putin, was called to the office of the general prosecutor late in the day as a witness in an investigation, associates said. The summons was ostensibly to answer some questions about materials found in the May 11 search of offices at Media-Most, the Gusinsky conglomerate, they said.

Gusinsky went to the prosecutor's office without lawyers, associates said, but after a while he was unexpectedly taken into custody by a different investigator than the one he went to meet. He was then taken to Butyrka Prison, a notorious run-down and overcrowded prison for common criminals in Moscow, the prosecutor's office said.

Genri Reznik, Gusinsky's lawyer, said the arrest was "in the best traditions of the KGB in the 1930s" during Stalin's purges. By the time word circulated about the arrest, Reznik said, it was impossible to visit Gusinsky in the prison because visiting hours had expired. Reznik said the arrest was carried out under irregular circumstances, in which a provision of the criminal procedure code allows the prosecutor to take the extraordinary step of imprisoning someone before they are formally charged. The prosecutor's office said Gusinsky was being investigated for fraud.

Boris Nemtsov, a former vice prime minister, said the imprisonment was "absurd" and "discredits Russia." Nemtsov called on Putin to fire Alexander Voloshin, the chief of staff, who has been openly scornful of Gusinsky. Gusinsky reported recently that Voloshin had offered him $100 million to stop attacking the Kremlin in his media outlets.

Gusinsky is president of the Russian Jewish Congress and a leader of the Jewish community. The chief rabbi of Russia, Adolf Shayevich, who earlier complained of pressure on him from the Kremlin, said Tuesday night that the arrest of Gusinsky was "another step aimed at the destruction of the Jewish community in Russia."

The arrest provoked a huge political outcry, perhaps the most serious since Putin's rise to power, first as prime minister and later as acting president and president. He has enjoyed strong public approval ratings since last fall after ordering a brutal military crackdown against secessionist Moslem rebels in Chechnya.

But Putin -- a former KGB officer whose commitment to Russia's young democracy has often been questioned -- now faces public criticism over the Gusinsky arrest.

On a two-day official trip to Spain, Putin gave contradictory answers about his awareness of the imprisonment beforehand, and the reasons behind it.

Anatoli Chubais, architect of Russia's privatization who had earlier backed Putin, told reporters that the arrest was a power play by those "who would like to turn Russia into a semi-fascist state." Chubais and 16 other prominent businessmen sent a letter to the prosecutor-general assailing the imprisonment of Gusinsky. "Until yesterday, we used to think we live in a democratic country," the letter said. "Today we started to doubt it seriously. A precedent was established which appears to be the execution of a political opponent by the authorities...And all of us can be listed as opponents -- practically the whole business community. We still hope that we are going to live in a democratic country. We simply have no other choice. Because outside of democratic institutions, all our efforts and investments are doomed to failure."

Gusinsky's representatives also attacked the Kremlin over the arrest. "Their aim is crystal clear," said Igor Malashenko, first deputy chairman of Media-Most. "It is a bid to establish an authoritarian regime in Russia, as that is the only regime under which they can feel safe and have uncontrolled access to Russia's financial resources and natural riches."

The U.S. deputy secretary of state, Strobe Talbott, said in a telephone interview that the United States must respect the Russian legal process and rule of law. But Talbott added: "There is a pattern here, and we have seen it for some time. It has a look and feel to it that does not resonate rule of law...It resonates intimidation."

The Kremlin has reportedly put pressure on banks to call in Gusinsky's loans as a way to influence him.

Israel's Interior Minister Natan Sharansky yesterday voiced his concern to Russian diplomatic representatives over the arrest of Gusinsky. Sharansky said that he fears the imprisonment could be seen as a political arrest. This is especially true since Gusinsky is both a media figure and a leader of the Jewish community, Sharansky said. Sharansky is especially concerned that Gusinsky has been imprisoned without being formally charged.

In New York, Elan Steinberg, World Jewish Congress executive director, told Reuters that U.S. Jewish leaders have banded together to protest the imprisonment of Gusinsky, whose media group has often criticized the Kremlin. Steinberg issued a joint statement signed by a number of U.S. Jewish leaders claiming that the latest attack on Gusinsky appears to be part of a broader, disturbing pattern of pressure against Jewish interests.

"The Jewish community has noted with distress the ongoing attacks by government-owned and other media against Gusinsky and the Russian Jewish Congress," it said. Steinberg said that Gusinsky was using a personal fortune valued in 1999 at some $1.5 billion to support Hebrew schools and Jewish cultural and educational institutions.

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