US Lawyer Zeltser Transferred to Forensic Psychiatry Center for Examination

US lawyer Emanuel Zeltser has been transferred to a forensic psychiatry center for an examination, Uladzimir Kuzmichow, Belarus' deputy chief forensic expert, told BelaPAN.

He said that Mr. Zeltser was kept at "a forensic psychiatry department for individuals under tough security." He said that the man was to undergo a "comprehensive" examination, which he noted might last up to 30 days.

The lawyer was arrested in Minsk on March 12 together with his secretary, Russian citizen Vladlena Funk upon their arrival. The two were put into the detention center of the Committee for State Security (KGB), charged under Part 2 of the Criminal Code’s Article 318 with using fake documents.

"We would not give any information about the investigation," KGB spokesman Valery Nadtachayew told BelaPAN on Tuesday, saying that any details of the investigation were confidential.

The lawyer's brother, Mark Zeltser, told BelaPAN that Mr. Zeltser was transferred to the center on April 10, citing a report from the defense counsel.

The brother claims that self-exiled Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky had orchestrated the arrests together with his lawyer Lord Goldsmith and spokesman Tim Bell, one of Britain's top public-relations men, over the assets of the late Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili.

When Mr. Patarkatsishvili died, his assets became the subject of a dispute pitting the widow backed by Mr. Berezovsky, against his step cousin, Joseph Kay, who is represented by Mr. Zeltser.

In an interview with a Georgian TV network, Mr. Berezovsky acknowledged the existence of the dispute over the inheritance, saying that Messrs. Kay and Zeltser had tried to convince Patarkatsishvili’s family that Mr. Kay was the executioner of Patarkatsishvili’s will by presenting false documents.

A few days later, Mr. Kay told Russian media that the documents designating him as executioner were not forgeries.

Meanwhile, Mark Zeltser believes that Mr. Berezovsky promised the Belarusian authorities to pay for a consultancy contract with Mr. Bell, Margaret Thatcher's PR guru, if they put Mr. Zeltser in custody

On Monday, the US Department of State issued a statement urging the Belarusian authorities to allow US embassy staff to visit Emanuel Zeltser regularly.

The lawyer is reported to be suffering from a serious medical condition and is denied three drugs that he was taking in the last 10 years.