Out of Jail, and Leaving Kazakhstan

A Kazakhstan appeals court has upheld the acquittal of American businessman Mark Seidenfeld, who is now free to leave the country after a year and a half in Russian and Kazakhstan jails.

In an email exchange, Seidenfeld said judges rejected the appeal by his former telecoms partner, Arna Inc., last week. He says he’s leaving the country as soon as possible. “Currently waiting on paperwork to get out of here,” Seidenfeld writes.

Seidenfeld was imprisoned in December 2005 in Russia on a warrant from Kazakhstan after getting into a business dispute with his telecoms partner, Murat Zhunussov, who claimed that the American stole $40,000 from the telecoms company, Arna Inc.

In April, Seidenfeld was shifted to Kazakhstan on a prison train for trial, and last month an Almaty court acquitted him of all charges, saying the money was accounted for and reprimanding law enforcement agencies for bringing the prosecution. Here is Arna’s statement (in Russian) criticizing the acquittal. Basically, Arna asserted that the court ignored the facts, a claim the appeals judges rejected.

While the ruling is a relief for Seidenfeld, the case as a whole may not be a badge of honor for the country. It appears that Zhunussov managed to get the charges filed because of bad blood between himself and Seidenfeld. The fair part of the process began after U.S. political leaders including Senate majority leader Harry Reid lobbied Kazakh officials on Seidenfeld’s behalf. In a letter, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley of Nevada called the charges “extortion pure and simple.” They appear to have gotten the attention of Kazakhstan leaders, who stepped in to make sure the trial was not tampered with.

Similar cases have happened in the past in Kazakhstan and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union. The courts are susceptible to manipulation by businessmen and others wishing to have their way with a given deal, and their less-savvy partners can be left empty handed or, in Seidenfeld's more dramatic case, with a long stint in jail.