The Prosecutor General's Office on Monday ordered the arrest of Media-MOST head Vladmir Gusinsky
on charges of swindling the state-controlled natural gas giant, Gazprom.
The charges were filed two days after Media-MOST and Gazprom signed a deal settling Media-MOST's
debt to Gazprom [$473 million]. The Kremlin is trying to gag Gusinsky's N.T.V television station for its criticism of
the government, in particular, Putin's policies.
One of Gusinsky's lawyers, commented on a Media-MOST radio station, that
"The prosecutor's office is trying to undermine the settlement, that took months to conclude....I am convinced that at
the foundation of the prosecution is a political motive."
The arrest warrant was ordered after Gusinsky failed to show at the prosecutor's
office; and because lawyers representing Gusinsky didn't supply a reason for his absence.
Gusinsky's counsel plan to sue the Deputy Prosecutor General Vasily Kolmogorov. They comprise a
"steady criminal group within the Prosecutors Office," which carried out an illegal arrest and
jailing of Gusinsky in June.
He was jailed after arriving at the prosecutor's office for guestions, only being released
after he signed over control of his media empire to Gazprom. The charges were then dropped and he
left the country. But in September he declared the deal invalid, as he said he signed under pressure.|
