Lord Goldsmith Not Involved in Arrest of US Lawyer in Minsk, Spokesperson Says

Peter Goldsmith was not involved in the arrest of US lawyer Emanuel Zeltser in Minsk, Caroline Villiers, spokesperson for the UK former attorney general, told BelaPAN.

She said that Lord Goldsmith also does not act for self-exiled Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky.

The US lawyer was arrested in the Belarusian capital city 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.

The lawyer's brother, Mark Zeltser, claims that Mr. Berezovsky orchestrated the arrests together with spokesman Tim Bell, one of Britain's top public-relations men, and Lord Goldsmith 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 early April, the widow filed a lawsuit against Messrs. Kay and Zeltser, claiming that they presented false documents in an attempt to convince Patarkatsishvili’s family that Mr. Kay was the executioner of Patarkatsishvili’s will.

New York-based Debevoise & Plimpton on April 14 issued a statement to announce that it had been engaged to act for the widow and daughters of Badri Patarkatsishvili.

Lord Goldsmith heads the firm's European litigation practice.

According to foreign media reports, Patarkatsishvili spent his final day in the company of Lord Goldsmith and Lord Bell. The last of his contacts to see him alive was Boris Berezovsky, his friend and long-time business associate.

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