The Georgian Court of Appeal has upheld the verdict against Israeli businessman Ronnie Fuchs and Zeeva Frenkel, currently serving sentences in a Georgian prison for having attempted to bribe the Deputy Minister of Finance. Lawyers promise to wait for the decision of the Supreme Court in order to appeal the verdict at the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights and to demand the release of people whose arrests led to a sharp deterioration in Georgian-Israeli relations.
The speaker of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal said that, during the hearings, the court found no grounds for revocation or revision of the decision of the Tbilisi City Court, which considered Fuchs and Frenkel guilty of trying to bribe a high-ranking official.
On April 1 the court sentenced businessman Frenkel to six and a half years imprisonment and a fine of about 62 thousand dollars, while the honorary consul of Turkey to Eilat, Zeeva Fuchs, was sentenced to 7 years in prison and fined 310 thousand dollars (See: http: / /vestikavkaza.ru/articles/politika/confl/32148.html).
Defendants believe that their arrest and trial is a provocation on the part of the Georgian authorities, who are trying to avoid payment of a penalty of $100 million or to achieve an agreement on procedural arrangements on the same sum. Israeli President Shimon Peres made a personal call to President Saakashvili last year in order to express his concern over the fate of his compatriots, and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has sent a letter to his Georgian counterpart, Grigoriy Vashadze, with an ultimatum demanding the release of the businessmen, threatening that otherwise Georgia would put its international investments in danger. As a diplomatic demarche, the Israeli side has canceled the visit of the head of the chairman of the Georgian parliament, David Bakradze, and the Minister of Economy, Veronica Kobalia. In addition, Israel has put Georgia on a list of countries which are “dangerous” for Israeli visitors. Despite all the actions on the side of Israel, Mikhail Saakashvili announced that “no pressure will force Georgia to slacken its fight against corruption.”
The lawyers have made an appeal to the supreme court of the country, but suggest that they have more hope for the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights “Until August 26 we have the right to appeal the decision in the Court of Appeal in the Supreme Court, which, in turn, must make a decision within the next six months,” Archil Kbilashvili, a lawyer for businessmen, told VK. He added that the Supreme Court will make a decision in December or next January. If the verdict is negative, the lawyers will submit an appeal to the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights.
However, the Ministry of Justice of Georgia believes that the guilt of Fuchs and Frenkel is completely proven. A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice told VK that, when it comes to the International Court of Justice, the ministry will present the same strong evidence as it did during the case hearings, in particular, the video conversations with Avtandil Haraidze which prove an attempt at giving a bribe. The interlocutor of VK added that the Ministry of Justice regards the contract that Fuchs and Frankel concluded in the early 1990s to be the result of a corrupt collusion with one of the then-leaders of Georgia's oil and gas industry and that it has hard evidence of the fact.
However, the lawyer Archil Kbilashvili stated in a conversation with VK that the Georgian side, during informal contacts, hinted at the possibility of releasing Fuchs and Frenkel in the event of their rejection of the $100 million, which they had received from the Georgian state by a decision of a London court. Kbilashvili said that Fuchs and Frenkel are in good health. “They are in in Ksani prison with an open regime, in separate six-people cells. They have no special conditions. They shower twice a week, have telephone conversations with relatives three times a month and the same diet as the rest of prisoners. Fuchs and Frenkel read a lot. Moreover, at the moment they are writing a book and hope it will be filmed in Hollywood. "
George Kaatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for VK
