US Senator Harry Reid and Congresswoman Shelley Berkley

            The following is a translation to Russian of the letter to the United States Ambassador to Kazakhstan, John Ordway, dated March 23, 2007, from Senator Harry Reid, the Speaker of the United States Senate, and Congresswoman Shelley Berkley. A copy of this letter in English may be downloaded via the hyperlink below.

 

Сенат Соединенных Штатов Америки

Вашингтон, ДС 20510-7012 

23 марта 2007 года 

Послу г-ну Джону М. Ордвею

Посольство США в Республике Казахстан

Ак Булак 4, 23-22, здание № 3,

Астана 010010, Казахстан 

Уважаемый посол г-н Ордвей, 

Настоящим письмом выражаем нашу глубокую обеспокоенность в связи с положением, в котором оказался наш избиратель, гражданин США, г-н Марк Сайденфелд.  Как Вам известно, г-н Марк Сайденфелд остается заключенным в тюрьму в г. Алматы в ожидании судебного слушания.  Он находится в тюрьме в г. Алматы на протяжении нескольких месяцев, без возможности освобождения под залог.  Как нам сообщил юридический советник г-на Сайденфелда, судебные органы Казахстана продолжают откладывать слушание по его делу и возможность признания г-на Сайденфелда оправданным.  Особенную тревогу вызывают у нас продолжающие поступать в наш адрес сведения, которые указывают на то, что обвинитель г-на Сайденфелда имеет возможность манипулировать процессом дознания и остальными стадиями судебного процесса с целью сфабриковать ложное обвинение против г-на Сайденфелда и предотвратить надлежащее рассмотрение фактов и доказательств, которые, как нам бесспорно сообщает юридический представитель г-на Сайденфелда в Казахстане и США, должны снять с него обвинение.  Например, в то время, как бывший казахский бизнес-партнер г-на Сайденфелда предъявил ему обвинение в растрате и присвоении денежных средств компании, результаты проверки финансовой деятельности компании, проведенной аудиторами с высокой международной репутацией, не оставляют сомнения в том, что предъявленные обвинения являются ложными.  Назначенное на определенную дату, ранее в этом месяце, судебное слушание по делу г-на Сайденфелда было внезапно отменено, несмотря на объявленное закрытие длительной дознавательной стадии этого процесса. В то время как мы получаем утешительные новости от представителей посольства США в г. Алматы об удовлетворительном обращении с г-ном Сайденфелдом в заключении, нас беспокоит, что его дело может быть затянуто и подвержено манипулированию до такой степени, что дело г-на Сайденфелда не сможет разрешиться правосудием в соответствии с законодательством Казахстана.  Юридические представители, друзья и родственники г-на Сайденфелда продолжают сообщать нам о настойчивых усилиях его обвинителя ввести в материалы дела новое ложное доказательство для ужесточения своих требований выкупа.  Мы просим наше посольство в Казахстане приложить все возможные усилия, находящиеся в Вашем распоряжении для обеспечения проведения справедливого и своевременного судебного процесса, соответствующего законодательству, всем надлежащим правилам и процедурам, которые применимы к делу г-на Сайденфелда.  Г-н Сайденфелд находится в заключении уже более года, включая время его содержания под стражей в России, где он был арестован по требованию об аресте из Казахстана.  В настоящее время создавшаяся ситуация требует безотлагательного внимания, чтобы обеспечить свовременное разрешение этого дела юридической системой Казахстана.  После Вашего телефонного разговора в этом месяце с членом конгресса Беркли нам стало известно, что неопределенность положения г-на Сайденфелда и длительность его тюремного заключения начинают иметь серьезные последствия для состояния г-на Сайденфелда.  Мы просим Вас продолжать тщательно наблюдать за его состоянием и обращением в тюрьме, а также предпринять все необходимые шаги для обеспечения правосудия в разрешении его дела.   С уважением, 

/Подпись/                                                                   

Хэрри Рейд                                                             

Сенат США                                                                

/Подпись/

Шелли Беркли

Член Конгресса

Agudath Israel of America has warned of Consequences for Kazakhstan

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Agudath Israel of America has warned of potentially severe consequences for Kazakhstan if Mr. Seidenfeld is denied due process of law in Kazakhstan. This message was conveyed in the attached letter dated February 15, 2007 from the Director of Agudath Israel of America to the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States, His Excellency Kanak Saudabayev.

In addition to the concern raised by the prolonged detention of Mark Seidenfeld  for American businessmen cited by Rabbi Abba Cohen, Director of Agudath Israel of America, Kazakhstan and Israel have significant business ties.

The government of Kazakhstan has been investing in building business connections with Israel. Representatives of Kazakhstan’s science & technology sector visited Israel in recent months. The delegation included Nurbek Rayev, Chairman of the Board of the National Innovation Fund, Askar Abduzhaparov, Deputy Chairman of the Airspace Committee, and Erlan Ramankulov, Director General of the National Fund for Biotechnology. The visit was conducted within the framework of an agreement achieved by Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan, pursuant to which the two countries agreed to expand cooperation in the area of higher technologies, in particular, space research and biotech. The Kazakh delegation held meetings at the Israeli venture funds, “ATI” hi-tech incubator, companies “RAD”, “Tadiran”, “Mobilack”, “Prinir” and “Gad”. Talks at the Israeli Aerospace agency, Institute of Technology (Technion), “Israel Aircraft Industry”, “Rafael”, “ELOP”, and “Gilat Satellite”.

Efforts are underway by persons concerned about Mr. Seidenfeld’s continued detention in Kazakhstan to face false charges to raise the issue of his detention with these and other Israeli companies.

The risk to Kazakhstan’s efforts to develop business with American and Israel companies is consistent with the observation made by Congresswoman Shelley Berkley of Nevada to the Las Vegas Sun and the New York Times. She noted that investments by Nevada-based gambling concerns in Kazakhstan are likely to be adversely affected by concern about the ability of a Kazakh business partner, as in this case, to “lobby” the Kazakh Financial Police and Prosecutor’s Office to arrest an American businessman in Kazakhstan on false charges.

US State Dept may protest legal irregularities

State Department representatives in Russia and Kazakhstan, commencing in December 2005, have repeatedly stated that, were it ever shown that Mark is being prosecuted in a manner that violates Kazakh law and/or the Minsk Convention, then the State Department would have grounds to protest on Mark’s behalf.

For example, consider the following extract from an interview given by Ambassador Ordway in November 2006 when he commented on Mark’s case:
Transcript of Press Conference given by U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan John Ordway Kazakhstani Press Club, Almaty, KazakhstanNovember 27, 2006

Q: Can you comment on the extradition of American businessman Mark Seidenfeld from Russia to Kazakhstan?

Ambassador: We’re certainly very aware of the case, and we will be following it very closely through our consular section. Our role is to ensure that he is afforded all the rights that he is entitled to by law, but I don’t have any basis at this point to make any comments on the nature of the case that has been made against him.

But the original charges have been dropped:
Accordingly, grounds now exist for the US State Department to protest since the charges for which Mark was arrested in Russia and extradited to Kazakhstan have been dropped during March and April 2007 in the face of irrefutable evidence developed during pre-trial investigation, and Mark is now to face wholly different charges which have not yet been finalized.

Since Mark has disproven the main original charge against himself, and that charge has been dropped from the official case against him, Mark’s continued detention, and, in retrospect, his arrest and extradition from Russia to Kazakhstan in the first place, are illegal, and Mark should be freed.

Boycott Ducat and Help Mark Seidenfeld

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 http://savemark.wordpress.com/google2486d8953c1f14ec.html

May 2, 2007

Dear Concerned Person,

As has been reported in the New York Times and the Las Vegas Sun, Mark Seidenfeld is an American businessman who is in a jail in Almaty, Kazakhstan facing false charges.

On March 7, the Las Vegas Sun reported on Mark’s extradition and detention, and the efforts of U.S. legislators to see to his relief.

On April 23, 2007, Ilan Greenberg of the New York Times wrote a story on Mark’s arrest, and the motives of those who have had him arrested.  That story has been syndicated to the International Herald Tribune and various newspapers around the world.

The heart of the matter appears to be a vendetta against Mark Seidenfeld held by the controlling shareholder of OAO “Arna”, doing business in Kazakhstan as “Ducat”.

When the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was selling its controlling block of stock in OAO Arna to the current controlling shareholder, the current controlling shareholder had to pay approximately $5 million more than he intended to acquire control of OAO Arna.  This was because Mark Seidenfeld had obtained a competing bid that was $5 million higher.  Therefore, the EBRD received a payment for its shares in OAO Arna based on a valuation of the company at US $23.5 million instead of approximately US $16 million, which was the current controlling shareholder’s original offer.  Apparently, an even higher price for the EBRD’s shares in OAO Arna could have been obtained, but for the current controlling shareholder’s right of first refusal to buy the EBRD’s stake. This larger price that was paid for control, plus the fact that Mark Seidenfeld, while he was CEO of OAO Arna, had terminated the current controlling shareholder from his position as a consultant to OAO Arna, appears to be the source of the vendetta against Mark Seidenfeld.

Not long after Mark Seidenfeld was arrested in Blagoveshchensk, Russia on December 7, 2005, a Kazakh lawyer working for Ducat communicated in Blagoveshchensk to a Russian criminal defense attorney defending Mark Seidenfeld that the false charges against Mark Seidenfeld would only be dropped if and when Mark Seidenfeld, or persons who care about Mark Seidenfeld, paid a ransom of between $2.5 and $5 million, approximating the higher price paid to the EBRD for its stake in OAO Arna. The Kazakh lawyer predicted then that Mark Seidenfeld could resist extradition to Kazakhstan for about a year, then Russia would have no choice but to deliver Mark Seidenfeld to Kazakhstan pursuant to treaty obligations.

The Kazakh lawyer said he could assure Mark Seidenfeld would be convicted in Kazakhstan, and the only way out for Mark Seidenfeld would be to pay the ransom.

So far, the legal trap designed by the Kazakh lawyer has unfolded just as he outlined.

Ducat is one of the larger telecommunications companies in Kazakhstan, and is headquartered in Almaty. You may read about Ducat on these sites:

The KITF-2007 Business Convention, April 26-28 Exhibitor’s List;  
US Department of Commerce Commercial Services-Telecommunications List, a downloadable document;
A downloadable report from the European Community Market Access Database 
and Goliath Business Services’ Company Profile on Ducat Joint Stock Company.

Purpose of this Web site:
The purpose of this website is twofold.

1. The first purpose is publish information about the prosecution of Mark Seidenfeld on false charges.

2. The second purpose is to organize a mass boycott of Ducat’s services by all companies in Kazakhstan managed by persons who are concerned about the continued failure to provide full legal rights to Mark Seidenfeld.

Public information about Ducat indicates that it counts among its clients in Kazakhstan 24 foreign diplomatic representations, 120 foreign firms’ representative offices, and more than 200 foreign companies. It also provides services to the governmental and local authorities.  

We request that all foreign companies in Kazakhstan review their use of Ducat’s services and terminate use of Ducat’s services until Ducat has dropped all its false claims against Mark Seidenfeld and Mark has been freed:

This is to request that the US Embassy discontinue using the services of Ducat.
This is to request that all members of the British and American business communities in Kazakhstan review their use of Ducat’s services. 

Lists of British companies doing business in Kazakhstan (88 in all) are posted at the Kazakhstan Embassy to the United Kingdom as a downloadable document.

The American Chamber of Commerce lists American companies doing business in Kazakhstan.

Is your company listed here?

If so, would you please bring about the discontinuation of use of Ducat’s services at least until Mark Seidenfeld is freed?

There are numerous other telecommunications companies in Kazakhstan whose services your company may use, including Golden Telecom which has been loyal to Mark Seidenfeld throughout this ordeal since the time of his arrest in December 2005 while travelling to Blagoveshchensk, Russia on Golden Telecom company business.

Please note that Golden Telecom was never a shareholder in OAO Arna, and there was an inaccuracy about this point in the New York Times article, which has been corrected and included as a note at the bottom of the article.

If you would like to learn more about Mark Seidenfeld’s situation, please contact the undersigned.

Sincerely,

Derek A. Bloom
bloomda@gmail.com