Timoshenko claims the business of Piter Vins, founder of Sakharov Foundation Prize, captured in Russia

Pressure on Peter Vins, founder of the Sakharov Foundation Prize "For Journalism as a Deed" continues - at the moment, his business is captured in Russia, states Boris Timoshenko, secretary of the Prize, head of the monitoring service of the Foundation for Protecting Glasnost.

The "Caucasian Knot" reported previously that the law enforcement agencies started to pay close attention to Vins in 2007. Extraordinary checks were conducted at his logistics company office in Moscow and temporarily paralyzed the company activity. However, no criminal case was initiated. In 2008, a search was conducted, followed by the initiation of a criminal case, Vins is accused of evading taxes.

On December 15 last year, the Dorogomilov district court of Moscow granted the second application to arrest Vins. Before that, the Dorogomilov court refused to sanction the arrest but the Moscow city court returned the case for a new consideration.

"When Peter Vins went abroad for medical treatment, a criminal case was initiated against him - the businessman was incriminated tax evasion. It seems that the investigation got stuck but Peter Vins still is not able to return to Russia, and his opponents have used the opportunity and virtually captured his business", said Boris Timoshenko to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In this connection, Vins has sent an appropriate statement to A.M. Bagmet, chief of the  Investigation Department under the RF Prosecution Office for Moscow and also addressed Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

In his address to the Russian President, Peter Vins writes that it is a third time he applies for help to the state leader.

Peter Vins states that, in September 2008, militia captain D.V. Kisliakov, senior detective of Moscow's West Administrative District tax monitoring service, managed the operation activity conducted at the office of the companies founded by him.

Vins claims that Kisliakov told N.L. Pinayeva, who was General Director of one of his companies, the following: "The persecution of Vins is not due to tax violations, in case of violations you would have been closed long ago. By his statements in press, Vins offended influential people. No letters to President Medvedev, deputies' requests or coverage in press are going to help Vins. We shall never allow him to return to Russia".

"Under the threat of physical violence, D.V. Kisliakov and his colleagues prohibited the staff of the companies which I have founded to communicate with me or to answer my telephone calls. D.V. Kisliakov and his friends offered N.L. Pinayeva assistance and patronage in managing my business, i.е., in simple terms, "a cover". Further events have demonstrated that N.L. Pinayeva accepted the proposal of MoI officers on "patronage". In her private conversations with the staff N.L. Pinayeva confessed that they would "break her head at the entrance to her house" if she did not obey D.V. Kisliakov and other MoI officers", points out Peter Vins in his address to the President.

Later, as Vins states, Pinayeva dismissed an employee (Kiseleva М.), who had been blamelessly working for the company since 1996, because she caught her talking with him over telephone.

"N.L. Pinayeva has registered a new company "Way Logistic" Ltd, where she simultaneously acts as founder, general director and chief accountant. While continuing to be general director of my company ("Winland-XXI century" Ltd), N.L. Pinayeva, without my knowledge, has transferred all assets, clients, property, revenues and, gradually, all the staff of my companies to the "Way Logistic" Ltd founded by her", states the businessman.

According to Vins, later, N.L. Pinayeva, refused to hand over to his representatives documents (constituent documents, accounting reports, staff documents, etc.) and property belonging to his companies and declared that Vins did not own there anything any more.

A number of well-known public figures and politicians, such as Liudmila Alexeyeva, head of Moscow Helsinki Group, Ella Pamfilova, chair of the council on the development of civil society institutions under the president, and Igor Yurgens, vice president of the RSSP, have opposed the persecution of Vins.

At the beginning of February, Liudmila Alexeyeva, head of Moscow Helsinki Group, addressed an open letter to US President Barak Obama "with a request to assist" the protection of mister Peter Vins, a US citizen of Russian origin.