VZCZCXRO0737
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHYG
DE RUEHVK #0107/01 3000205
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270205Z OCT 09
FM AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
TO RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0513
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1223
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 1328

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VLADIVOSTOK 000107 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV RS
SUBJECT: SENIOR COP LANGUISHES IN JAIL FOR WORK ON US-FUNDED 
ANTI-CORRUPTION STUDY 
 
REF: A.  VLADIVOSTOK 83  B. VLADIVOSTOK 82 
 
VLADIVOSTO 00000107  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  This is an Action Cable.  See para 8. 
¶2.  Summary.  Aleksandr Astafyev, anti-corruption crusading 
militia colonel and long term U.S. Consulate contact, is still 
in jail after his arrest last June on trumped up charges.  There 
has been no progress in his case.  Now on his second lawyer, 
neither attorney has been allowed to be in contact with him.  We 
understand that Astafyev recently refused a chance to plead 
guilty to lesser charges that would have softened his potential 
six-year sentence.  Local newspaper journalists and others 
interested in the case have been intimidated.    A recent 
Washington Post article apparently resulted in getting him moved 
from solitary confinement to share a cell with Customs General 
Ernest Bakhshetsyan who is also suffering Astafyev's fate for 
being too effective an anti-corruption investigator.  Astafyev's 
appeal to President Dmitriy Medvedev has received no response. 
End Summary 
¶3.  A knowledgeable consulate contact recently met with us to 
brief the current situation of Aleksandr Astafyev, militia 
colonel and long term U.S. Consulate contact, who has been in 
jail since last June.   Astafyev's campaign against organized 
corruption apparently brought him closer to charging influential 
criminals  and they retaliated by engineering Astafyev's own 
arrest on trumped up charges.  At the time of his arrest, 
Astafyev was completing a George Mason University-funded study 
on the criminal take-over of Russian businesses with the 
collaboration of corrupt officials.  Astafyev connects his 
arrest with his tense relations with Aleksey Sorokin, a reputed 
organized crime boss, who has both Russian and American 
citizenship.   Although Sorokin is wanted by the Russian 
Ministry of Interior, he freely circulates in Russia and has 
friendly relations with local militia officers.  During a 
face-to-face confrontation between Sorokin and Astafyev in a 
local prosecutor's office, Sorokin's bodyguards threatened 
Astafyev, promising to kill him.  Militiamen witnessed these 
remarks and ignored them.   Despite the fact that Sorokin is 
wanted by militia, he entered and left the building with no 
problem.  Earlier, Astafyev told conoff that Sorokin was doing 
business without paying taxes in either Russian or the US. 
¶4. Our contact says that the local authorities' original 
intention was to accuse him of unsanctioned contacts with U.S. 
representatives, but they lacked evidence.    Instead, they 
recently offered Astafyev a chance to plead guilty of "abuse of 
power" to soften his punishment.   Astafyev decided to ignore 
the offer because he insists that investigators have nothing 
against him, and are grasping for a justification for his 
arrest.  Although Astafyev is still accused of fraud, there is 
no evidence to substantiate the charges, we were told.   Our 
interlocutor speculated about other possible ways they might 
find to accuse Astafyev, such as for disclosing improper 
investigative procedures or disclosing methods of militia 
operations, again, despite a lack of evidence.  .  Our contact 
added that Astafyev's problems may also be linked to his knowing 
too much about the illegal business activities of high ranking 
FSB officer Yuri Alyoshin and his partners. 
¶5. The detention of Astafyev has been extended twice without 
consideration of his lawyer's appeals or statements.    He has 
been held with no access to his attorneys.  His first lawyer was 
interrogated in a prosecutor's office regarding his client and 
his defense.  After this interrogation, the lawyer refused to 
meet conoffs, saying that he was under strict FSB surveillance. 
It was better not to call him.  Several weeks ago Astafyev's 
family found a new lawyer; however, the new attorney has 
experienced the same pressure and problems.  He has no 
permission to visit Aleksandr Astafyev in the pre-detention 
center.  The attorney has appealed his right to meet with his 
client to a local court and has been notified that his claim 
will be considered in three weeks.   Astafyev's September 3 
appeal to President Dmitriy Medvedev about his "illegal" arrest 
and alleged human rights violations has received no response. 
Our contact confirmed that Astafyev and Customs General Ernest 
Bakhshetsyan were at least for a time sharing the same cell (see 
septel).    Bakhshetsyan reportedly has provided strong moral 
support to Astafyev during these difficult weeks for Astafyev. 
¶6. We have been told that local journalists interested in the 
case have been intimidated.   A "Zolotoy Rog" newspaper 
journalist was questioned  by the prosecutor's office after a 
recent article about Astafyev's arrest.  Local independent 
newspapers such as "Narodnoe Veche", "Novaya Gazeta vo 
Vladivostoke",  and "Arsenyevskie vesti" continue to remind 
their readers of the fate of Astafyev.  Maria Solovyenko, an 
owner of Narodnoye Veche newspaper and the most active supporter 
of Astafyev, was reportedly also warned not to provide publicity 
to the case. 
¶7. Our local discussant is convinced that these small 
circulation newspapers need stronger support from the world 
media.  Astafyev's best hope is international publicity, he 
claimed.  A Washington Post article ("Official's Arrest in 
Russia Linked to GMU" dated 23 July 2009) discomforted 
Astafyev's enemies,  he pointed out, and as result Astafyev was 
 
VLADIVOSTO 00000107  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
moved to the cell with Bakhshetsyan  -- a good move because 
there was concern that occupying a lone cell could be a 
threatening situation  for him.   Our discussant requested our 
assistance in bringing world media attention to the human right 
cases of Aleksandr Astafyev and Customs General Ernest 
Bakhshetsyan. 
¶8. Comment.  The Astafyev and Bakhshetsyan cases are examples of 
the photo-negative quality of local law-and-order politics - 
black becomes white, and white becomes black.  The standard they 
are forced to bear signals to anyone like them, that too 
vigorous an anti-corruption crusade is likely to send the 
crusader, rather than the villains to jail.  And anyone taking 
much interest in their cases is also likely to find trouble. 
This case is also grievous from a USG perspective because 
Astafyev has worked with US law enforcement  officials and was 
in the Washington recently on a State Department grant.  Post 
would appreciate Department's and Embassy's involvement in 
further publicizing these cases and raising them with Russian 
interlocutors in government, the press, and, as appropriate, in 
public.  End comment. 
ARMBRUSTER