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| Economist Who Fled Russia Says He Doesn’t Plan to Return Soon | Economist Who Fled Russia Says He Doesn’t Plan to Return Soon |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| MOSCOW — Sergei M. Guriev, a prominent economist who fled Russia a month ago under pressure from investigators, said Friday that he will not return in the “foreseeable future,” until he is certain that he will not face prosecution or other legal constraints. | MOSCOW — Sergei M. Guriev, a prominent economist who fled Russia a month ago under pressure from investigators, said Friday that he will not return in the “foreseeable future,” until he is certain that he will not face prosecution or other legal constraints. |
| He described scrutiny from investigators that had mounted over the spring, culminating in an unexpected demand that he surrender five years’ worth of professional and personal e-mails and submit to searches of his office and home. Worried that investigators were preparing to name him as a suspect in a case alleging conflict of interest, and urged on by his friends and colleagues, he left Russia on a single day’s notice on April 30 and has not returned. | He described scrutiny from investigators that had mounted over the spring, culminating in an unexpected demand that he surrender five years’ worth of professional and personal e-mails and submit to searches of his office and home. Worried that investigators were preparing to name him as a suspect in a case alleging conflict of interest, and urged on by his friends and colleagues, he left Russia on a single day’s notice on April 30 and has not returned. |
| “I won’t go back even if there is a small chance of losing my freedom,” he said in a written exchange. “I have not done anything wrong and do not want to live in fear.” | “I won’t go back even if there is a small chance of losing my freedom,” he said in a written exchange. “I have not done anything wrong and do not want to live in fear.” |
| Mr. Guriev said he will now be a visiting professor in the economics department at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques, a university in Paris. He delivered a long-scheduled lecture on Thursday at Sciences Po, as the university is called, before a mostly academic audience. | Mr. Guriev said he will now be a visiting professor in the economics department at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques, a university in Paris. He delivered a long-scheduled lecture on Thursday at Sciences Po, as the university is called, before a mostly academic audience. |
| The news of Mr. Guriev’s departure set off tremors among Moscow’s elite this week. | The news of Mr. Guriev’s departure set off tremors among Moscow’s elite this week. |
| Since Vladimir V. Putin returned to the presidency last year, authorities have initiated prosecutions of both protesters and opposition leaders. But Mr. Guriev, though frequently critical of the government, is a consummate insider – he wrote speeches for then-President Dmitri A. Medvedev and hosted President Obama at his university he led, the New Economic School, in 2009. | Since Vladimir V. Putin returned to the presidency last year, authorities have initiated prosecutions of both protesters and opposition leaders. But Mr. Guriev, though frequently critical of the government, is a consummate insider – he wrote speeches for then-President Dmitri A. Medvedev and hosted President Obama at his university he led, the New Economic School, in 2009. |
| In the written exchange, he said he has been questioned repeatedly in a criminal case centering on a 2011 report he co-authored that criticized the prosecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the oil tycoon and challenger to Mr. Putin. Investigators have claimed the experts had a conflict of interest because they received funds many years before through a fund established by Mr. Khodorkovsky’s company, Yukos. | |
| The investigation itself reflects sharp changes that have occurred since Mr. Putin returned to power a year ago. Mr. Medvedev and liberal-leaning players aligned with him have lost influence, and hardliners in law enforcement view them with suspicion, as supporters of the political opposition. The report on the Khodorkovsky prosecution was ordered by Mr. Medvedev’s human rights council | |
| Mr. Guriev said that he never received any money from Yukos, or from Menatep, a bank Mr. Khodorkovsky headed. | Mr. Guriev said that he never received any money from Yukos, or from Menatep, a bank Mr. Khodorkovsky headed. |
| He said he had been questioned three times in February and April for a total of 10 hours, and handed over hundreds of pages of documents and such an enormous volume of e-mails that, he said, it took 40 hours to copy the files. | He said he had been questioned three times in February and April for a total of 10 hours, and handed over hundreds of pages of documents and such an enormous volume of e-mails that, he said, it took 40 hours to copy the files. |
| As the process advanced, he began to worry that investigators might name him as a suspect rather than a witness and seize his passport – thereby preventing him from visiting his wife and children, who live in France – or pressure him to serve as a witness in another case. He said if he refused, they could detain him. | As the process advanced, he began to worry that investigators might name him as a suspect rather than a witness and seize his passport – thereby preventing him from visiting his wife and children, who live in France – or pressure him to serve as a witness in another case. He said if he refused, they could detain him. |
| With Mr. Khodorkovsky due for release next year, his supporters say they fear prosecutors are preparing a third criminal case against him | With Mr. Khodorkovsky due for release next year, his supporters say they fear prosecutors are preparing a third criminal case against him |
| Mr. Guriev said he could not reveal the content of the interrogations, since he had signed a nondisclosure agreement, which is standard in the Russian system. But in an informal conversation after an interrogation, one investigator told him that he disapproved of Mr. Medvedev’s desire to solicit expert opinions like the 2011 report on the Khodorkovsky trial. | Mr. Guriev said he could not reveal the content of the interrogations, since he had signed a nondisclosure agreement, which is standard in the Russian system. But in an informal conversation after an interrogation, one investigator told him that he disapproved of Mr. Medvedev’s desire to solicit expert opinions like the 2011 report on the Khodorkovsky trial. |
| “I told him that our Constitution allows every citizen to disagree with the president,” Mr. Guriev said, commenting on the investigator’s complaint about Mr. Medvedev. | “I told him that our Constitution allows every citizen to disagree with the president,” Mr. Guriev said, commenting on the investigator’s complaint about Mr. Medvedev. |
| At another point, an investigator told him he should be happy, because his fate was much better than that of Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet dissident who was sent into exile and kept under police surveillance in the early 1980s, he said. The same investigator asked whether he was considering leaving Russia. | At another point, an investigator told him he should be happy, because his fate was much better than that of Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet dissident who was sent into exile and kept under police surveillance in the early 1980s, he said. The same investigator asked whether he was considering leaving Russia. |
| The investigator asked if Mr. Guriev had an alibi, a jarring question since he was being questioned as a witness and there are no charges against him, he said. | |
| Mr. Guriev said he had reached out to a series of well-connected friends and colleagues after the searches in April, during a trip abroad, and came away with the impression that his political protection was diminishing. | Mr. Guriev said he had reached out to a series of well-connected friends and colleagues after the searches in April, during a trip abroad, and came away with the impression that his political protection was diminishing. |
| “Some people told me the risks are acceptable, some advised me not to return, but nobody gave guarantees,” he said. He added, “I have no issues with Putin or Medvedev. It is just that I (and my family) have a subjective dislike of my chances to lose my freedom, given that I have done nothing wrong.” | “Some people told me the risks are acceptable, some advised me not to return, but nobody gave guarantees,” he said. He added, “I have no issues with Putin or Medvedev. It is just that I (and my family) have a subjective dislike of my chances to lose my freedom, given that I have done nothing wrong.” |
| During his lecture in Paris, before a crowd largely made up of French academics, Mr. Guriev focused on Russia’s investment climate and capital flight, but at times alluded to political tensions and once seemed to refer to his own predicament. | During his lecture in Paris, before a crowd largely made up of French academics, Mr. Guriev focused on Russia’s investment climate and capital flight, but at times alluded to political tensions and once seemed to refer to his own predicament. |
| “It’s hard to create a strong and independent judicial system for commercial disputes with a dependent political judicial system,” he said. “There is another scenario: Maybe the middle class in Moscow will become too rich and ask for more: How about safety, traffic police, clean air?” | “It’s hard to create a strong and independent judicial system for commercial disputes with a dependent political judicial system,” he said. “There is another scenario: Maybe the middle class in Moscow will become too rich and ask for more: How about safety, traffic police, clean air?” |
| “But yet another scenario is that those that ask such questions will be incentivized to leave,” he said, prompting nervous laughter in the room. | “But yet another scenario is that those that ask such questions will be incentivized to leave,” he said, prompting nervous laughter in the room. |
Patrick Reevell contributed reporting from Paris. | Patrick Reevell contributed reporting from Paris. |