"We have great respect for Mr. Adamov, but we already know how to make a nuclear bomb," said Alexander Vershbow, the former US Ambassador to Russia.
The Russian government is very upset with the decision of the Swiss Prosecutor’s Office to send Eugene Adamov to the United States. Russia has an extradition agreement with Switzerland and expects to get the former Minister of Nuclear Energy back home as soon as possible.
Unfortunately for Mr. Adamov, there are outstanding warrants for his arrest in the United States, so the Swiss will send him to America, where he’ll be's charged with tax evasion and embezzling 9 million dollars from American taxpayers. The 65 year old Russian minister is facing possibly 60 years in a Pennsylvania federal prison.
Adamov was arrested on May 2, in Bern, Switzerland. He had come there to check with the banks about his daughters accounts, which had been frozen by the Swiss government. The U.S. government requested that the Swiss arrest and extradite Adamov. You can read more about the story on the San Jose Mercury News website, or at the end of the post. Click here to read more about what Russians think of their former minister.
Well, most Russians think absolutely nothing of him, outside of the plain facts. He was one of the Yeltsin’s people, corrupt, and he retired pocketing money stolen from American and Russian taxpayers. Most Russians living in poverty, wish him nothing but a swift American trial and prison. The Kremlin's views are another matter.
The Russian government is totally corrupt, and when there is a conflict of interests, things get dirty, starting with public accusations and proceeding to murders and bombings. However, when the personal interests of the powerful are not threatened, government officials try to maintain the status quo for everyone, and if anyone gets in a trouble, others will do their best to bail him out.
That’s why the Kremlin tried to get Adamov extradited to Russia. They even started their own "criminal" case against him, to show the Swiss some facade of enforcing the law. According to Russian laws, Adamov could’ve received 10 years in prison for his crimes against the U.S., but it would be unprecedented for Russia to prosecute its own minister for crimes against another government.
Since Plan A failed, the Russian government headed for Plan B, trying to convince the world of evil American plans. The Kremlin made up wild accusations about an evil CIA plan to torture Adamov and shoot him up with “psychotropic drugs” in order to steal top secret Russian nuclear technologies. The Kremlin pushed this ridiculous line so hard that one Russian lawmaker even suggested that Adamov should be "physically eliminated" to prevent state secrets from falling into American hands. Adamov played along, saying that "there may be some problems with state secrets even if I spend one night in a U.S. prison."
The best American response came from the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Alexander Vershbow: "We have great respect for Mr. Adamov, but we already know how to make a nuclear bomb."
While the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working hard making last minute attempts to save Adamov from jail, the Kremlin still doesn't understand that America isn’t Russia, and that the U.S. court system is actually independent from executive political power.
Chacago Tribune Article:
BY ALEX RODRIGUEZ
Chicago Tribune
MOSCOW - (KRT) - Switzerland ordered the extradition of a former Russian nuclear minister to the United States to face charges of stealing $9 million in American aid that was supposed to be spent on improving safety at Russian nuclear plants, Swiss authorities said Monday.
The Swiss Federal Office of Justice's decision ended a five-month tug-of-war between U.S. and Russian authorities, who also sought Yevgeny Adamov's extradition on similar charges.
The Russian government demanded Adamov's extradition soon after the United States had submitted its request to Swiss authorities, an apparent attempt to prevent the 66-year-old atomic scientist from being tried in the United States.
Russian officials had expressed concern that Adamov could divulge nuclear secrets to the United States if the American extradition request was granted. That concern was evident in the reaction from Russian officials such as lawmaker Viktor Ilyukhin, who called the Swiss decision "a serious blow to our country's prestige."
"Parliament believes that the U.S. will be interested in having an ex-Russian minister at its disposal as a source of secret information of great interest for U.S. intelligence services," added Ilyukhin, security committee vice chairman for the Duma, the lower chamber of Russia's parliament.
Swiss authorities said they sided with the U.S. request because, as a Russian citizen, Adamov would have been barred from being sent to the United States for trial if he were extradited to Russia and tried in his homeland first.
U.S. officials told Swiss authorities that they were willing to deport Adamov to Russia after his trial was over, and after he had served any sentence if convicted.
During the 1990s, Adamov was one of Russia's most powerful and influential atomic scientists, heading up a nuclear research institute that oversaw millions of dollars in U.S. aid meant for improvements in Russian nuclear safety.
The indictment against Adamov alleges that he diverted at least $9 million of that aid into his own companies in the United States. Adamov's American business partner, Mark Kaushansky, is a co-defendant in the case. The indictment was handed down in Pennsylvania, where one of the companies allegedly used in the scheme was based.
Adamov faces as many as 60 years in prison if convicted, and a fine of up to $1.7 million. Kaushansky could be sentenced to up to 180 years in prison and fined $5 million if convicted.
In 1998, then-President Boris Yeltsin appointed Adamov as head of Russia's Atomic Energy Ministry. President Vladimir Putin fired him in 2001, amid corruption allegations emanating from a parliamentary investigation.
Adamov was arrested by Swiss authorities May 2 when he appeared in Bern, the Swiss capital. He had traveled there from Moscow to help his daughter, whose assets had been frozen by Swiss officials.
Earlier this summer, Adamov said he would cooperate with his extradition to Russia if Swiss authorities approved Russia's request. Adamov has 30 days to appeal Monday's decision to Switzerland's Supreme Court.
His lawyer in Switzerland, Stefan Wehrenberg, could not be reached for comment Monday. Adamov has proclaimed his innocence in commentaries published in Russian newspapers and in at least one radio appearance via telephone. However, in an interview with the Russian newspaper Kommersant in early September, he also warned that "there may be some problems with state secrets even if I spend one night in a U.S. prison."
Some Russian officials also have worried that Adamov's detention in the United States could prompt the scientist to divulge sensitive information about Russian nuclear research centers and other secrets. The hand-wringing has been extreme in some cases - earlier this year one Russian lawmaker suggested that Adamov should be "physically eliminated."
Before stepping down as U.S. ambassador to Russia, Alexander Vershbow told a Russian radio station that fears of Adamov divulging state secrets were unwarranted.
"We have great respect for Mr. Adamov, but we already know how to make a nuclear bomb," Vershbow said July 8. "It's a criminal case. ... It's a purely legal matter."
