Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for February 17, 2012
Newsline: Russia accuses US of violating Vienna Consular Convention
Russia has raised concerns over the case of a Russian flight attendant who has been detained by Canadian authorities over alleged involvement in a multi dollar Internet fraud case that occurred in US. Senior Consul of the Russian Consulate in Toronto, Canada, Igor Kiykov said that Marina Talashkova was detained by the Canadian authorities on January 15 at the request of the US seeking her extradition. Talashkova, a 24 year-old stewardess has denied any involvement in illegal activities. The Russian General Consulate in Toronto was informed by Canadian authorities the same day. However, Russia still has not received official notice from America despite U.S.-Russian Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty of 1999 which stipulates direct cooperation between law enforcements of two countries. A Federal Grand Jury indicted six foreigners, two of whom are Russian nationals, on charges of defrauding American car buyers. According to the indictment, for three years the members of the conspiracy allegedly offered vehicles for sales on legitimate websites, and after a price was negotiated, the defendants allegedly sent fraudulent invoices. The collected money was siphoned from escrow accounts to Europe. The indictment alleges conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, nine counts of wire fraud, eight counts of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and four counts of money laundering. Additionally, the indictment seeks the forfeiture of property and money illegally obtained through the scheme, including more than $4.2 million. If they are convicted of the charges in the indictment, the defendants would each face sentences that could total hundreds of years in federal prison. Another Russian suspect, Yulia Mishina-Heffron is in custody in Nevada respectively. She has been in jail for over a year. Vice Consul Igor Shaktar-ool said the consulate learned about her arrest months after it occurred: “The consulate learned about the arrest only when Mrs. Mishina, Yulia Mishina herself contacted the Consulate in May 2011. She told us that she had been arrested before she contacted us, in November 2010. It’s a mandatory for the local authorities to provide the Consulate and embassy with the notification of the arrest of the Russian citizen and citizen here in the United States. And that wasn’t done.” The US has violated the Vienna Consular Convention, and unfortunately it has violated it many times.
Newsline: Russian embassy in Syria denies covert co-op
The Russian embassy in Damascus dismissed media reports circulated recently about some covert Syrian-Russian military cooperation, regarding such reports as “propaganda and incompatible with the truth.” The reports, claiming that Russia is sending special groups and weapons aboard ships to Syria as well as renewing the work of a radar atop of the Qassioun Mountain in Damascus and installing a similar one along the Syrian-Turkish borders, are “baseless,” the embassy said in a statement carried by Syrian state-run SANA news agency. “Some misleading media outlets had even gone to the extent of claiming that the Russian delegation, which had visited Syria recently, brought photos about the sites of armed opposition in some Syrian areas,” it said, adding that these are no more than ” rumors that have nothing to do with reality.” It said Russia is seeking ways to end the internal crisis “by the endeavors of the Syrians themselves and without any foreign intervention, adding that Russia believes that its basic mission is to prevent civil war in Syria, work to take the country to a new political phase and preserve the stability and peace of the Syrian people and the entire Middle East. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Russia hoped all Syrian political groups would create favorable conditions for an upcoming constitutional referendum in the country. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a presidential decree Wednesday, setting February 26 as the date for the referendum on a new draft constitution. Violence has continued to escalate in Syria, which has been hit by 11 months of unrest.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2012-02/17/content_14631833.htm
Newsline: Request for State Department to Explain China Gang-Buster Case
At least one member of Congress is demanding that the State Department release diplomatic cables from the recent Wang Lijun incident, in which the former Chongqing police chief appeared to take refuge inside a U.S. consulate earlier this month even as large numbers of security forces pursued him. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.), in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, requested that all communications between U.S. consulate in Chengdu, the U.S. embassy in Beijing and the State Department in Washington be released by Friday to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The letter says Mr. Wang may have sought asylum at the U.S. consulate in Chengdu, about four hours’ drive from Chongqing. U.S. officials and the Chinese Foreign Ministry have confirmed that Mr. Wang entered the Chengdu consulate on Feb. 6 and did not leave until the next day. U.S. officials have declined to offer further details. Any request for asylum at the time would have put the U.S. in a particularly delicate situation with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping then on the verge of visiting U.S. Mr. Wang is thought to have been taken into Chinese custody after he departed the consulate, though his whereabouts remain unknown. In what would later become an Internet meme, a statement from the Chongqing city government said Mr. Wang was placed on medical leave from his official duties and was receiving “vacation-style treatment.” Reports on Mr. Wang’s case “raise questions about whether Mr. Wang sought asylum protection from the United States and, if so, what steps were taken to secure U.S. national interests and Mr. Wang’s personal safety,” the letter read. Many political analysts believe Mr. Wang was caught in the middle of a high-level political drama in China, in which top officials in Beijing are attempting to purge Chongqing’s Communist Party chief, Bo Xilai, ahead of this year’s political transition. Mr. Bo until recently was viewed as likely candidate for promotion to the Politburo Standing Committee, though the case of Mr. Wang has thrown his political future into doubt. It remains unclear whether Mr. Wang even requested asylum from the Chengdu consulate. Additionally, diplomatic regulations appear to prohibit overseas posts from promising asylum to non-U.S. citizens (pdf). Nonetheless, the Congressional letter underscores growing concern in some quarters over how the incident was handled.
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