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Russia's chief prosecutor promises more powerful moves to detain Hermitage Capital founder

Unfortunately, Western intelligence services - from both the US and the UK - are behind Browder, Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said

KALUGA, June 15. /TASS/. Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika has stated that Russia will continue its work to detain former founder of the fund Hermitage Capital William Browder. He said it while answering reporters’ questions in Kaluga on whether Russia will address Interpol and other foreign law enforcement agencies following Browder’s immediate release.

"Moreover, we will initiate it, as the issue is being politicized," Chaika stressed. "So, we should consolidate and we will consolidate (this work - TASS). I think Russia and Russian citizens will make more powerful moves soon."

"We won’t let (Browder) sleep peacefully," Chaika promised.

"Unfortunately, Western intelligence services - from both the US and the UK - are behind Browder. We are well aware of what kind of person we are dealing with. That’s why such things happen (when Browder was released instead of being arrested - TASS)," Chaika said.

"Still, we believe that Interpol should not interfere with politics. It should perform its duty: search for criminals. Browder is a criminal, that’s clear to everyone, and we’ve got the verdict which came into legal force in Russia," the prosecutor general noted.

Released from Interpol

In late May, Interpol tweeted that there has never been an arrest warrant for Browder and Interpol is not searching for him. Ahead of this statement, the Spanish police had reported that Browder, who had been earlier detained in Madrid, had been released, because his arrest warrant was invalid. Browder himself said that first he was arrested and brought to a police station and then released after Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock had advised law enforcement agencies not to execute his arrest warrant issued at Russia’s request.

In 2012, the head of the British fund Hermitage Capital actively supported the adoption by the US Congress of the Magnitsky Act, which stipulates the use of sanctions measures against some Russian officials. On July 11, 2013, Moscow’s Tverskoy Court found the financier guilty of large-scale tax evasion - 552 million rubles (about $8.4 million) - in absentia and sentenced him to nine years in prison, as well as stripped him of the right to conduct business for two years.

In July 2014, Russia placed Browder on the international wanted list. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office repeatedly inquired Interpol about the arrest of Hermitage Capital’s founder, but no information of its satisfaction appeared until recently. The last report about the preparation of a new inquiry emerged in December 2017.