Press release of the attorney firm „Ageev, Berezhnoy and partners“.
13.12.2002
Series of the articles devoted to Boris Feldman’s case.
On 17 May 2002 advocates Viktor Ageev and Andrey Fedur handed to the Shevchenkivskiy district court of Kyiv the claim in the interests of Boris Feldman, the vice-president of the bank „Slavyanskiy“.
In their complaint the advocates asked the court to acknowledge as illegal the actions of Nikolay Azarov, the head of the State tax administration of Ukraine, and the actions of the tax administration as such, on behalf of which N. Azarov acted. The matter is that Mr. Azarov distributed the information, which was later made public by mass media, that „the talk between President Kuchma and Nikolay Azarov concerning the bank „Slavyanskiy“, which was allegedly recorded on the tapes presented by Nikolay Melnichenko, was faked by the order of Boris Feldman, the former vice-president of the bank“. This information was given by N. Azarov on 16 May 2002 at the press conference in the State tax administration and published by several Ukrainian mass media. The statements that B. Feldman is somewhat connected with this montage are false and damage dignity and business reputation of Boris Feldman. The advocates hope to interrogate Nikolay Melnichenko, Nikolay Azarov and Leonid Kuchma during the investigation and to conduct expertise of the corresponding fragments of the records promulgated by Melnichenko. The advocates want to solve the questions whether these audio records are authentic and whether they were fabricated „by the order of Boris Feldman“. In the opinion of the advocates, this trial will be of great public importance, since for the first time the Ukrainian court will have an opportunity to analyze the authenticity of Melnichenko’s records and get his evidence.
Besides, as Ukrainian mass media reported about the press conference, N. Azarov, being a state official, asserted that B. Feldman was involved in „criminal activities“, thus abusing Feldman’s rights and benefit of the doubt principle. Evidently, speaking about the decision of the Artemovsk town court on B. Feldman’s case, Azarov did not take into consideration that this decision had not become operable, that the trial would be held in the appeal court, and that Boris Feldman might not be regarded as guilty by state officials. The mentioned statements by N. Azarov may be assessed as an attempt to influence the appeal court.
The advocates ask the court to make Nikolay Azarov and the State tax administration to refute officially the information about the „criminal activities“ of Boris Feldman and about his connection to faking N. Melnichenko’s audio records.
In their complaint the advocates asked the court to acknowledge as illegal the actions of Nikolay Azarov, the head of the State tax administration of Ukraine, and the actions of the tax administration as such, on behalf of which N. Azarov acted. The matter is that Mr. Azarov distributed the information, which was later made public by mass media, that „the talk between President Kuchma and Nikolay Azarov concerning the bank „Slavyanskiy“, which was allegedly recorded on the tapes presented by Nikolay Melnichenko, was faked by the order of Boris Feldman, the former vice-president of the bank“. This information was given by N. Azarov on 16 May 2002 at the press conference in the State tax administration and published by several Ukrainian mass media. The statements that B. Feldman is somewhat connected with this montage are false and damage dignity and business reputation of Boris Feldman. The advocates hope to interrogate Nikolay Melnichenko, Nikolay Azarov and Leonid Kuchma during the investigation and to conduct expertise of the corresponding fragments of the records promulgated by Melnichenko. The advocates want to solve the questions whether these audio records are authentic and whether they were fabricated „by the order of Boris Feldman“. In the opinion of the advocates, this trial will be of great public importance, since for the first time the Ukrainian court will have an opportunity to analyze the authenticity of Melnichenko’s records and get his evidence.
Besides, as Ukrainian mass media reported about the press conference, N. Azarov, being a state official, asserted that B. Feldman was involved in „criminal activities“, thus abusing Feldman’s rights and benefit of the doubt principle. Evidently, speaking about the decision of the Artemovsk town court on B. Feldman’s case, Azarov did not take into consideration that this decision had not become operable, that the trial would be held in the appeal court, and that Boris Feldman might not be regarded as guilty by state officials. The mentioned statements by N. Azarov may be assessed as an attempt to influence the appeal court.
The advocates ask the court to make Nikolay Azarov and the State tax administration to refute officially the information about the „criminal activities“ of Boris Feldman and about his connection to faking N. Melnichenko’s audio records.
The full text of the complaint is placed on the site of the attorney firm „Ageev, Berezhnoy and partners“ — http://ageyev.org/cases/feldman/azarov/claim17.05.02.htm