MOSCOW, November 27 (RIA Novosti) - Spanish lawyers have appealed the arrest of a Russian attorney detained in a major ongoing crackdown on Georgian and Russian organized crime groups in Spain, his lawyer said Monday.
Spanish police detained nine people in Madrid last Wednesday, including Alexander Gofshtein, a lawyer for bankrupt Russian oil company Yukos, on a warrant issued by Spain's Audiencia Nacional, or the National High Court.
Gofshtein, who arrived from Moscow for a meeting in the Soto del Real prison with his client and purported Georgian mafia boss Zakhar Kalashov, is alleged to be involved in money laundering and to have links with the criminal underworld.
Lawyer Genrikh Padva, who will appear before a Spanish court to defend Gofshtein, said, "No charges have yet been brought against him. Alexander is suspected of mafia links and money laundering."
"We still have not been able to meet with Gofshtein in the detention center. They have denied us entry, citing a higher department's instruction, but have given no reasons," he said.
Spanish police said in a press release Gofshtein had been arrested as part of a large-scale operation codenamed Operacion Avispa (Operation Hornet), targeting Russian and Georgian mafia members operating in the country. They said he had brought money to his jailed client, Kalashov, whose gang had made large sums from criminal operations in Moscow, including illegal gambling, kidnapping and extortion, and had then invested the funds in real estate, restaurants, and other assets in Spain.
Padva insisted that Gofshtein only provided legal assistance for his client.
