Marsha Lazareva currently is serving a ten-year sentence in Kuwait for offences that she did not commit. I say this from a position of special knowledge, as one of her legal defence advisors. My view is shared by her various lawyers and other advisors from the UK, the USA, Russia and Kuwait. It is now also shared by the state of Kuwait; yet she remains in custody there, innocent and separated from her young son.
Marsha is a Russian citizen. She has lived and worked in Kuwait for more than 15 years. She has been extremely successful, setting up investment deals which have brought great benefit to the state of Kuwait. She was imprisoned for alleged corruption and fraudulent behaviour connected to a deal known as the Port Fund.
Her conviction was based on two main allegations – first, that the Port Fund (amounting to $496million) is ‘dirty money’, so that the investors should not be able to benefit from it; and secondly, that she signed three fraudulent documents which led to her gaining dishonest benefit in connected transactions.
That she is not guilty of these crimes does not require forensic ingenuity. Following the various interventions of her worldwide advisors, it was accepted by Kuwait that the Port Fund is clean money. It has now been released to beneficiaries, including Marsha and the state of Kuwait. Further, the so-called ‘expert witness’ who produced the three allegedly fraudulent documents was indicted several months ago for forging the self-same documents, as outrageous a perversion of the course of justice as one could imagine.
Despite all that, the prosecutor did not go to court and invite the judges to quash the convictions and release Marsha and her co-defendants. I was present in court on three occasions when the prosecutor remained entirely silent. Last week, after the senior judge had recused then reinstated himself in strange circumstances, it was decided to annul the decision of the Court of First Instance, i.e. to quash the convictions. However, the court also decided to reconsider ‘the appeal’ in five weeks’ time.
Marsha was granted bail in the preposterous sum of the equivalent of £50million. So, conviction quashed, perversion of the course of judice admitted, but she still remains in custody.
I and others have raised the matter in Kuwait, and with Kuwait’s helpful and courteous representatives in the UK. I suspect that the latter are as perplexed as am I. The one person who has refused to communicate directly with me or other members of the defence team is the Kuwait prosecutor, who does not even extend the courtesy of acknowledging reasonable correspondence.
So, this is a cautionary tale, which will be watched carefully by UK companies considering doing business with Kuwait, especially if staff are to be sent there. Kuwait is a friend of the UK, a respected country. The Lazareva case is a blot on its Rule of Law escutcheon. The case should be resolved without delay, for the sake of Marsha and her child, and for Kuwait’s reputation.