Vins
The Moscow City Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal to throw out an arrest warrant for U.S. businessman and former Soviet dissident Peter Vins, who is accused of tax evasion, a court spokesman said.
Vins' defense team had challenged a September decision by the Dorogomilovsky District Court to arrest the entrepreneur in absentia. Vins, who has fled Russia for Latvia, and his supporters believe that his legal troubles are linked to his outspoken complaints about police corruption, including appeals to President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Wednesday's ruling means that Russian authorities can now issue an international arrest warrant for Vins.
A member of Vins' defense team vowed to appeal the ruling. The lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Vins, owner of the once-flourishing VinLund logistics company in Moscow, is accused of evading more than 3 million rubles ($100,000) in taxes. He faces up to six years in prison if convicted.
Human rights activists have voiced their support for Vins, a former member of the Moscow Helsinki Group and the founder of the Andrei Sakharov prize for investigative journalism. Last week, Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila Alexeyeva said she would deliver an appeal signed by human rights activists to Michael McFaul, a special assistant to U.S. President Barack Obama and senior director of Russian and Eurasian affairs at the U.S. National Security Council.
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