KGB arrested one more businessman from Lithuania

Gintas Zegeris, a citizen of Lithuania, who carries on business in Belarus, has spent a week in the KGB remand prison in Minsk already. Vice-president of the Belarusian union of entrepreneurs Mikhail Shavelzon was arrested with him.
They were arrested as suspected in being mediators in giving a bribe.
Mr Zegeris, who had been working in Minsk for more than 10 years and has a permit for permanent residence in Belarus, was arrested on June 3. However, reports about the incident have been received only now. His business partner Mikhail Savelizon, a well-known Belarusian businessman, was arrested as well, a Lithuanian web-portal Delfi informs.
According to reports of “Nasha Niva”, the phone of Mikhail Shavelzon, a honorary vice-president of the Belarusian Union of Businessmen, is not answering. The chairman of the Belarusian Union of Businessmen Alyaksandr Patupa confirmed that Mr Shavelzon was unavailable at least since June 3. Mr Patupa and other businessmen called the colleague to congratulate him on his birthday, but his phone didn’t answer.
Mr Shavelzon is a well-known businessman, formerly he was an advisor of the “council of the republic of the national assembly”.

Meanwhile, a former wife of Mr Zegeris, Ilona Zegerene, who lives in Minsk, has told to the Lietuvos Rytas, that he hadn’t been officially accused yet. Representatives of the Embassy can visit Zegers only after his application to them as a citizen of Lithuania. Until that moment diplomats do not have a right to take any actions.
Lithuanian Ambassador to Belarus Edminas Bagdonas has stated to Lithuanian media that he hadn’t received an official appeal for help from the fellow-countryman.
In January 2008 a Lithuanian businessman Alvydas Jablonskis, President of Lithuanian Association of Customs Brokers, was arrested in Belarus. He was charged with violations of customs documents preparation procedure. Mr Jablonskis is still behind the bars.
Yesterday the Speaker of the Seimas (the Lithuanian parliament) Česlovas Juršėnas, commented the situation with the arrest of Alvydas Jablonskis. According to the Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas, keeping the businessman in a remand prison or half a year “is a dangerous signal for Lithuanian investors”. Mr Juršėnas stated that during the meeting with the Ambassador of Belarus to Lithuania Uladzimir Drazhyn. The Lithuanian Speaker expressed the hope that the situation with the Lithuanian businessman would be solved as soon as possible. Earlier the Lithuanian Ministry of Economy made a statement that cooldown in bilateral relations between Lithuania and Belarus is possible because of the incident.
As said by Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Economy Vytautas Naudužas, A. Jablonskis worked on the inner market of Belarus under extremely complicated and confusing Belarusian laws. “After some time has passed since he began its activity in Belarus, a backdated amendment to a law was adopted. He apparently needed to redo accounting, but didn’t have enough time,” V. Naudužas explained.