MOSCOW, March 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Foreign Ministry questioned Thursday a New York court's conviction of a former UN official, Russian Vladimir Kuznetsov, for involvement in a money laundering scheme.
Official Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said the trial over Kuznetsov, "who has flatly denied his guilt, triggered a lot of questions."
Kuznetsov, who chaired the UN' Budget Oversight Committee, has been convicted by a New York court for laundering money he received from a UN procurement official, who had taken bribes from companies seeking UN contracts, through an offshore company in 2000.
Kamynin said then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had not had enough grounds for lifting diplomatic immunity from Kuznetsov before his arrest in the United States September 1, 2005. He said it had been done in several hours' time without counseling with the General Assembly and Russia.
Moscow was also surprised by the arrest of Kuznetsov, which it said was unnecessary. Russia said the court had fixed the bail the diplomat could not afford.
Kuznetsov was released on $1.5 million bail from the Russian government. He has been in New York under house arrest since.
Kamynin also claimed prosecutors had pressurized witnesses and the suspect and violated the court procedures, without elaborating further. He said Moscow would continue following the case and providing the Russian national assistance and support.
Kurznetsov was arrested after the procurement officer, fellow Russian Alexander Yakovlev, pleaded guilty and testified against him amid a scandal over an oil-for-food program to Iraq that rocked the global organization.
Kuznetsov's defense lawyers said earlier Thursday their client's guilt had not been substantiated. They cited Igor Pichigayev, a Russian accountant in the UN Secretariat, who said in court Tuesday that Yakovlev had told him that Kuznetsov had been unaware of the origin of the money he had borrowed from him.
The former diplomat faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, with the sentencing to take place June 25.
His defense lawyers said earlier Thursday they could either appeal the ruling or seek retrial without jury, both options being possible under U.S. legislation.
