St. Petersburg – The Hareidi Diamond Dealer Who Overpowered The KGB

St. Petersburg – Israeli diamond dealer, Rafael Aviv, represented by Attys. Mordechai Tzivin and Gil Wojakowski, was released last week from a long period of custody during which he was held without trial by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) – the successor to the KGB, the NKVD and Cheka – arrested Aviv last July on suspicion of “exchanging precious stones and unlawful possession of diamonds.” Russian law prohibits the export of raw diamonds mined in Russia, unless they are polished locally.

This was not the first time an Israeli diamond merchant was arrested under similar circumstances, but in all of the other cases they received long sentences, sometimes more than 10 years, which they served to the end; one even passed away in a Russian jail.

Aviv was interrogated extensively during his eight months at the FSB detention center in St. Petersburg until his release last week. It was the first instance in which a suspect under FSB investigation was released without being charged, whereas most cases lead to an indictment and a conviction.

Aviv was arrested in connection with an event in 2004 after industry competitors informed against him and falsified documents. The Fraud Unit of Israel Police questioned two of them under caution four months ago and even asked the Russian federal government for permission to conduct an investigation there.

Tzivin was greatly assisted in his efforts to secure Aviv’s release by his close friend Vladimir Nikolayevich Pligin, who is a part of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and who has helped solved various humanitarian problems Israelis and other Jews have encountered during the past decade. Based on the advice of Dayan Weiss (HaChido) of Antwerp (who is handling with Tzivin, Chief Rabbi Of Ukrain Yaakov Bleich, Mr. Meilach Bindiger and Mr. Aharon Nezri, the case of two yeshiva students arrested in Japan), Atty. Tzivin told his friend at the Kremlin about the special Jewish halacha of redeeming captives

Pligin, who serves as a member of the Duma and as head of the State Duma’s Committee for Constitutional Law and State Structure, helped to release Aviv on humanitarian grounds, he also was approached also by prominent Knesset Members and other Israeli leaders, Tzivin told VIN News today (Wednesday).

“Time after time it has been demonstrated that Russian legal and law enforcement apparatuses treat prisoners and foreign prisoners humanely, carefully upholding human rights,” Tzivin added. “The decisions are in accordance with the law, not external considerations. The stigma with which Russia is viewed by the US and the West is for propaganda purposes and is detached from reality. Anyone who has visited US prisons knows Russian prisoners are treated better.”