On July 21, 2006, the Supreme Court of Russia overturned an earlier decision by the Moscow City Court and ruled that former Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeni Adamov should be released from jail pending trial. [1] Adamov is accused in Russia of embezzling 3 billion rubles (roughly $100 million) in state funds, and in the United States of embezzling $9 million, as well as money laundering and tax evasion. [Note: WMD Insights has obtained a copy of the U.S. indictment against Adamov. To view the document go to http://www.wmdinsights.com/PDF/Adamov_US_Indictment.pdf].

Adamov was arrested in Switzerland in May 2005 at the request of the United States, but in December 2005 was extradited to Russia, which had filed its own charges against him soon after his arrest. Upon arrival in Russia, Adamov was placed in jail awaiting the end of the investigation of his activities, incarceration that was expected to extend until his trial began. Adamov’s two co-defendants remained out of jail, but were prohibited from leaving their city of residence. [For additional background see “Former Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeni Adamov Awaits Trial on Charges of Embezzling $100 Million,” WMD Insights, June 2006 issue, http://www.wmdinsights.com/I6/I6_R1_FormerRussianMinister.htm].

Because Russian law does not allow incarceration for longer than two months without a special court order, the Russian State Prosecutor’s Office requested repeated extension of Adamov’s incarceration at two month intervals. Each request was granted by the Basmannyi District Court in Moscow, which has jurisdiction over the Adamov proceeding. Although Adamov’s defense team appealed each of these rulings, all were affirmed. The latest extension, which was to keep Adamov in custody until August 8, 2006, was overturned, however, because Adamov’s defense team was able to take advantage of a rule banning pre-trial incarceration for longer twelve months, if the investigation of the pending case has been completed by the State Prosecutor and presented to the defendant. [2] The 12-month period since Adamov’s arrest (counting the time he spent in a Swiss jail) ended on May 2, 2006, creating the legal basis for the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the May 23 lower court order extending Adamov’s incarceration.

Upon his release and in subsequent interviews, Adamov declared his innocence and said he was prepared to prove it in court. His trial is expected to begin in the fall of 2006. Adamov disclosed that he had not expected that he would be incarcerated in Moscow upon extradition from Switzerland. [3] He also said that he planned to return to work at NIKIET, the research institute that he headed before and after his tenure as Minister of Atomic Energy and, indeed, he appeared there on the next day after his release from jail. [4] Reinforcing his protestations of innocence, Adamov also declared that he “insisted” on being present at court hearings in the United States. He noted, however, that if he was unable to be present in person in the U.S. court “for one reason or the other,” he planned to participate in the court hearings via teleconference. [5]

It should be noted that the attitude of Russian media toward Adamov has undergone a remarkable change in the past several months. As recently as the spring of 2006, the consensus seemed to be that Adamov was guilty and that the official case against him represented only a portion of his actual wrongdoing. Although many journalists reporting on the case and independent observers believed that the case against Adamov was launched by the State Prosecutor’s Office as an excuse to prevent his extradition to the United States (indeed both Russian lawmakers and Foreign and Interior Ministry officials have cited the relevance of Russia’s national security interests in the extradition to and trial of a former member of the government in a third party state), few doubted the underlying validity of that case. [6]

More recently, however, sympathies have begun to shift in Adamov’s favor. Media reports have ceased discussions of his guilt, and coverage has been limited to brief, neutral accounts of the accusations against the former minister. Indeed, recent attention has concentrated on his age and poor health and, especially, on the behavior of the State Prosecutor’s Office and courts. It is possible, however, that this change of heart is related less to Adamov’s particular situation than to the declining reputation of Russia’s prosecutors and courts, which are increasingly perceived in Russia as having compromised themselves in several notable cases in the past several years and as often manipulating Russian law for political reasons. Skilled advocacy by Adamov’s defense team, highlighting various legal errors in recent months, appears to have contributed to the remarkable change in the media’s attitude about his case.

Adamov’s trial is expected to shed some new light on his tenure as head of NIKIET and as Minister of Atomic Energy. If he is found guilty of seeking to enhance his personal wealth during this time by misappropriating U.S. funds provided to the Russian government for nonproliferation programs, U.S. decision-makers will likely seek to draw lessons regarding the underlying motives for positions taken by NIKIET and the Ministry of Atomic Energy in various negotiations and regarding the adequacy of controls over U.S. expenditures.

***

In a late-breaking development, on August 21, after a preliminary hearing, a local court returned Adamov’s case to the State Prosecutor with a request that the prosecution “remove shortcomings” in the case. Depending on the details, the decision could indicate that there are significant deficiencies in the material presented by the prosecutors, which could jeopardize the criminal proceedings against Adamov. [7]

Nikolai Sokov – Monterey Institute Center for Nonproliferation Studies