Dmitriy Kanevski,
Deutsche welle
The Kazakh authorities have extended a period of the arrest of Israeli businessman Boris Sheinkman, implicated in the scandal around the weapons supply in Kazakhstan, for another month. Israeli journalists held an independent investigation.
An arrest term of Israeli Citizen Boris Sheinkman, representing interests of giant Israeli arms developers in Astana has been extended for another month. Sheinkman is suspected of committing a series of crimes, including fraud and bribery of officials from the Defense Ministry of Kazakhstan. A scandal has arisen around the supply of upgraded weapons from Israel to Kazakhstan.
The circumstances of Sheinkman's arrest, as well as the precise wording of the charges and its grounds arouse a lot of questions, to which Israeli reporters sought to find answers. The journalists argue that the Kazakh authorities tried to prevent publication of an independent investigation.
A sudden postponement of trial
A closed juridical meeting about which neither the convicted's family, nor the Israeli consul were notified decided to extend the arrest of 62- -year-old Boris Sheinkman detained by the Kazakh special services in March. His daughter Lee Sheinkman said that the hearings were scheduled for May 20, but the sudden postponement of the date of the judicial process, as well as its results were totally unexpected for the family. She adds that her father tried to dislodge the recognition, which would tarnish the reputation of the Israeli military. Lee Sheinkman said "he climbed into other's plate and rushed into other's territory. Perhaps, those who stand for his arrest consider so. Interests of individuals, corporate or even the interests of a state may be involved in this case."
Astana dissatisfies with journalistic investigation
Journalists of the 2nd channel of the Israeli television tried to examine o who or what stands behind the "weapons scandal". In an interview with Deutsche Welle, editor-in-chief of the "Friday Studio" Golan Yohpaz said that the Kazakh authorities not only denied the comments, but had imposed pressures, trying to disrupt to broadcast the plot. Despite the pressures of official Astana, Yohpaz said the editors took a firm decision to broadcast the material, causing a noticeable public interest.
Experts detect in Russian trace
Interviewing leading experts in the field of Kazakh-Israeli cooperation, and representatives of the local "defense", reporters doubt a version of events put forward by Kazakhstan. This concerns statements about Sheinkman's pension fraud and allegedly lobbied arm deliveries, not passing standardization.
Reporters pay attention to arrest of Sheinkman and Kazakh deputy foreign minister Kazhimurat Maermnaov under strange conditions and inconsistency of suspicions. Author of investigation and journalist Emmanuel Rosen indicates much more global causes of the scandal. He said with the beginning of Putin's power, Russia sees Kazakhstan as a part of his empire and does not want anyone else other than Moscow to sell weapons there. "When Sheinkman began to enter into contracts for hundreds of millions, he became a target. And the only way to stop their implementation has been the arrest of the agent," the journalist said.
Rivals do not doze
Boris Sheinkman mediated in the transaction for Astana's acquisition of Israeli weapons, including missiles, tanks and unmanned aircraft worth $ 300 million. His arrest was not surprise to Leonid Tokarska, former boss of Sheinkman and former head of department for relations with CIS countries in Israel's Aviation Corporation (IAI).
Tokarska said before leaving he advised Sheinkman to be careful and "listen to the sounds." "After all, when you sign huge amount contracts, it attracts the attention of rivals. And the rival is Russia," Tokarska said. "I feared that something similar could happen, because Russia has nothing to sell on the market".
Old score
In turn, the authoritative Israeli orientalist Ehud Yaari believes that the scandal is linked also with the confrontation between the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan which agreed to accept such a deal with Israel and the Kazakh secret services. The expert said someone in Astana has lost a lot of money on non-signed contract with Russian manufacturers.
"Russian has a grudge against Israel for the fact that the local arms company strongly pressed its Russian competitors in the Indian market and is now trying to avoid a repetition of the scenario in Kazakhstan," Ehud Yaari said.
Israeli companies save contracts
Observers in Israel are convinced that the "arms scandal" is far from complete. Representatives of Israeli Soltam systems recently flew to Astana to fix Kazakhstan's claim to functionality of the weapons. It was expected that this issue will be addressed during the planned June visit by President Shimon Peres of Israel to Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry noted in an official statement on the arrest of Boris Sheinkman and conditions of his detention that the government of Kazakhstan creates bureaucratic obstacles to organizing a meeting with Boris Sheinkman Israeli consul.
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