U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

30–032PDF WASHINGTON : 2019

THE LONG ARM OF INJUSTICE: DID A 

U.N. COMMISSION FOUNDED TO FIGHT 

CORRUPTION HELP THE KREMLIN 

DESTROY A RUSSIAN FAMILY? 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND 

COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

APRIL 27, 2018 

Printed for the use of the 

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe 

[CSCE 115–2–3] 

( 

Available via www.csce.gov 

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COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS 

HOUSE SENATE 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, 

Co-Chairman 

ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida 

ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama 

MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas 

STEVE COHEN, Tennessee 

RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina 

RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois 

SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas 

GWEN MOORE, Wisconsin 

ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi, 

Chairman 

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

CORY GARDNER, Colorado 

MARCO RUBIO, Florida 

JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire 

THOM TILLIS, North Carolina 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island 

EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS 

Vacant, Department of State 

Vacant, Department of Commerce 

Vacant, Department of Defense 

[II] 

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(III) 

THE LONG ARM OF INJUSTICE: DID A 

U.N. COMMISSION FOUNDED TO FIGHT 

CORRUPTION HELP THE KREMLIN 

DESTROY A RUSSIAN FAMILY? 

APRIL 27, 2018 

COMMISSIONERS 

Page 

Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman, Commission on 

Security and Cooperation in Europe ...................................... 1 

Hon. Randy Hultgren, Commissioner, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe .............................................. 9 

Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee, Commissioner, Commission on 

Security and Cooperation in Europe ...................................... 19 

WITNESSES 

Bill Browder, Founding Director, Global Magnitsky Campaign for Justice ...................................................................... 5 

Victoria Sandoval, Criminal and Human Rights Attorney 

Representing the Bitkov Family ............................................ 9 

Rolando Alvarado, Attorney Representing the Bitkov Family 

and Professor of Law and Founding Partner, Corpolegal .... 12 

APPENDIX 

Prepared statement of Hon. Christopher H. Smith ................. 25 

Prepared statement of Hon. Roger F. Wicker ........................... 28 

Prepared statement of Hon. Marco Rubio ................................. 30 

Prepared statement of Hon. James Lankford ........................... 32 

Prepared statement of Hon. Michael S. Lee ............................. 33 

Prepared statement of Bill Browder .......................................... 34 

Prepared statement of Victoria Sandoval ................................. 39 

Prepared statement of Rolando Alvarado ................................. 45 

MATERIAL FOR THE RECORD 

Response of Bill Browder to questions for the record submitted by Hon. James McGovern ........................................... 56 

Letter from VTB Bank to Members of Congress ...................... 61 

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IV 

Affidavit of Harold Augusto Flores confessing that he was 

threatened by CICIG ............................................................... 63 

Medical report on Anastasia Bitkov issued by the National 

Forensic Science Institute ....................................................... 67 

Medical report on Vladimir Rodriguez [Bitkov] after release 

from a Guatemalan orphanage ............................................... 70 

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(1) 

THE LONG ARM OF INJUSTICE: DID A 

U.N. COMMISSION FOUNDED TO FIGHT 

CORRUPTION HELP THE KREMLIN 

DESTROY A RUSSIAN FAMILY? 

April 27, 2018 

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

WASHINGTON, DC 

The hearing was held at 9:20 a.m. in Room 2172, Rayburn House 

Office Building, Washington, DC, Hon. Christopher H. Smith, CoChairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 

presiding. 

Commissioners present: Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; Hon. 

Randy Hultgren, Commissioner, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee, Commissioner, 

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. 

Witnesses present: Bill Browder, Founding Director, Global 

Magnitsky Campaign for Justice; Victoria Sandoval, Criminal and 

Human Rights Attorney Representing the Bitkov Family; and 

Rolando Alvarado, Attorney Representing the Bitkov Family and 

Professor of Law and Founding Partner, Corpolegal. 

HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, CO-CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION 

ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. SMITH. The hearing will come to order, and good morning. 

The Russian Government regularly pursues its vendettas beyond 

its borders, harassing and even murdering Russian emigres abroad, 

people who are on the Putin circle’s target list for various reasons. 

The poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in England is one of the 

most recent examples to reach the news. 

The Kremlin’s sadistic pursuit of the Bitkov family is, in its way, 

just as shocking as the cruel murder of Litvinenko and the attempted murders of the Skripals. The Bitkovs are still alive today, 

but they have been hounded for over a decade to the opposite ends 

of the world and beyond the limits of human endurance merely for 

resisting Putin’s favorites who sought to take over their successful 

paper manufacturing company. 

More shocking, the facts of the case strongly indicate—and we 

will hear testimony on this today—that the United Nations International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or CICIG, 

became deeply involved in the Kremlin’s persecution of the Bitkov 

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2 

family—indeed, that CICIG acted as the Kremlin’s operational 

agent in brutalizing and tormenting the Bitkov family. 

Congress has a special responsibility in this matter because the 

United States is one of the largest contributors to CICIG, to their 

budget. There has been little congressional oversight of CICIG. It 

is clearly time for that to change. 

In the 1990s, Igor and Irina Bitkov built the North-West Timber 

Company, acquiring and modernizing old factories to increase 

paper production. As their company grew, the Bitkovs took loans 

from several Russian state banks to finance further modernization. 

Their business prospered, grew to a value of hundreds of millions 

of dollars, and the family was approached by a powerful bank executive who sought to buy a majority share in the company at a significantly below-market rate. Other officials asked Irina to become 

politically involved in President Vladimir Putin’s party. When the 

Bitkovs refused, things got very, very ugly. 

Their 16-year-old daughter, Anastasia, was kidnapped for several 

days, drugged, and repeatedly raped. Her parents ransomed her, 

paying the money to policemen who said that they were gobetweens to the kidnappers. Then the banks suddenly called in the 

loans, even though the Bitkovs had excellent credit. The family was 

threatened with imprisonment and death. 

Fearing for their lives, the family fled Russia. They found what 

they thought was legal refuge in Guatemala with the help of a 

Guatemalan law firm. They acquired Guatemalan passports, 

bought a house, learned Spanish, and gave birth to their second 

child, Vladimir. But the Kremlin caught up with them, and VTB 

Bank—one of Russia’s biggest state-controlled banks, often referred 

to as Putin’s piggybank—filed a complaint against them in Guatemala alleging use of false identification documents. 

While we don’t know exactly what transpired internally to CICIG 

and the Guatemalan state agencies that work with them, it appears to have been taken up by the Guatemalan state and CICIG. 

In any case, the Bitkovs suddenly found themselves catapulted into 

what has become for them a horror that is without end. 

On January 15th, 2015, Igor, Irina, Anastasia, and Vladimir 

were awoken by an armed raid on their home. Seventy or so armed 

policemen woke them up, took them away, and spent 20 hours 

tearing apart their home and their office. 

It got much worse. The Bitkovs were put into cages for several 

days. Their daughter—remember, she had been kidnapped and repeatedly raped years earlier—was denied medication and now suffered a nervous breakdown. As the ordeal continued, she would 

later make multiple suicide attempts. Their infant son was torn 

away from them, not even permitted to stay with friends, and sent 

to an orphanage where he sustained facial injuries, a chipped 

tooth, conjunctivitis, lost the ability to speak. When the family 

friends recovered him, they found that even when given food little 

Vladimir immediately began hiding it under his shirt. 

I will not say more now about the Bitkovs’ harrowing ordeal. 

Their lawyers will speak to that, as will Bill Browder. Suffice it to 

say Igor, Irina, and Anastasia have remained incarcerated since 

January 2015. 

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In January of this year, despite an earlier Appeals Court ruling 

that the Bitkovs’ alleged offense was only administrative in nature 

and punishable with a fine, Igor was sentenced to 19 years in prison, and Irina and Anastasia were sentenced to 14 years each. 

These sentences were far harsher than those given to Guatemalan 

officials who perpetrated the sale of passports. They are harsher 

than sentences given to rapists and to murderers. 

What was CICIG’s role in all of this? I would note Bill Browder 

in his testimony will point out—and I quote him, in pertinent 

part—‘‘Inexplicably, VTB Bank gained the legal status as an ‘interested party’ in the Migration Case against the Bitkovs with the 

support of CICIG. In January 2015, a criminal case against the 

Bitkovs was opened at the direction of CICIG.’’ And as he points 

out, as I pointed out as well, immediately after that, ‘‘70 armed police officers raided the Bitkovs’ home; arrested Irina, Igor, and 

Anastasia; and detained them in cages behind the parking garage 

in the main court building in Guatemala City.’’ 

We need to know how this happened. What was the complicity? 

Where has the investigation been by our government, by the 

United States Department of State Inspector General? There are a 

number of venues that would lend themselves to a very thorough 

investigation. Where’s the investigation by the United Nations? All 

of these things are something that we are going to pursue very, 

very aggressively. 

CICIG was invited to participate in this event. And when you 

hear people say, Oh, they’re a U.N. agency, they can’t come and 

testify, let me just point out to everyone, I wrote our trafficking 

laws for the United States of America. It’s called the Trafficking 

Victims Protection Act of 2000. It is our landmark law on combating sex and labor trafficking. When I discovered that in the 

Democratic Republic of Congo U.N. peacekeepers were raping little 

children—these are the peacekeepers—I convened four hearings, 

traveled to D.R. Congo, went to Goma where the peacekeepers 

were, and invited the U.N. to come and give testimony. Now, under 

our rules, they weren’t sworn in or were welcomed as absolute witnesses to the committee, but we have a very good way of having 

that kind of testimony. 

They gave us a briefing. It’s a distinction without a difference. 

And Jane Holl Lute, who was the top peacekeeping person—who 

was very much against what was happening there but worked for 

the United Nations, No. 2—she came, and she sat right there and 

gave a full, thorough accounting, and also a proactive approach as 

to what would be done to hopefully end this abuse by U.N. peacekeepers. I’ve done it other times. Kofi Annan’s chief of staff also sat 

here and testified. So CICIG is invited. I want to ask them questions. But they declined to be here. 

Just yesterday afternoon, let me point out to our friends and our 

witnesses, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala, the country’s 

highest court, upheld an earlier decision by a lower court that had 

granted Bitkov’s appeal to be considered migrants, and therefore 

under international law not able to be tried as criminals. It is not 

yet clear what this ruling will mean. It seems to mean that the 

family could be released from prison, but that they also could be 

deported back to Russia. And that would be unconscionable. 

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So I want to make, again, the appeal to the Guatemalan Government, to CICIG, to our government, to the United Nations, that 

this is the time to be focused on restoring this family as much as 

humanly possible and to provide them protection. They were refugees fleeing a Putin hit on them and their family, and to be treated 

like this is just—it’s unconscionable. 

You know, I’ve been in Congress 38 years. I chair the Human 

Rights Subcommittee for the Foreign Affairs Committee, co-chair 

the Helsinki Commission and have been on that commission since 

1983, I’ve been to Russia many times when it was the Soviet 

Union. To know the way the Putin government follows people that 

they are in disagreement with, the way they rob and murder and 

rape—and again, we’ve got Bill Browder here, who motivated the 

passage of the Magnitsky Act—I just want to thank him and our 

witnesses for being here, because that takes bravery. People should 

see some of the emails we’ve gotten. That, too, is unconscionable, 

and I won’t get into that now. 

With this hearing, I’d like to now introduce our distinguished 

witnesses, beginning first with Bill Browder, who has often been a 

witness before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. He is a true human rights advocate fighting for the weak and 

most vulnerable; has done it so effectively, starting with Sergei 

Magnitsky. And now the Global Magnitsky Act is a tool that the 

U.S. Department of State and even other governments are beginning to adopt as a way of holding individuals to account when they 

commit crimes against humanity and human rights abuses all over 

the world. 

Bill is the founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, 

which was at one time the investment advisor to the largest foreign 

investment fund in Russia. Many of you may remember that authorities from the government of Russia arrested, tortured, and 

killed his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, in November 2009. And since 

then, Mr. Browder has sought justice for Magnitsky and, again, 

others persecuted by corrupt officials from the government of Russia and governments everywhere else. 

Without objection, his full resume will be made a part of the 

record. But I want to thank him for his extraordinary leadership. 

Then we’ll hear from Victoria Sandoval, who is a criminal and 

human rights attorney who represents the Bitkov family. She has 

15 years of experience in different areas of the law and provided 

technical advice to the Supreme Court of Justice of Guatemala. 

Then, Rolando Alvarado is the founding partner of a law firm 

who represents the Bitkov family. He is an expert in cyber matters 

and has received related training in the United States Department 

of Justice on those matters. Mr. Alvarado has advised Guatemalan 

Government ministers and legislators. And again, his full resume 

will be made a part of the record as well. 

But I’d like to now yield such time as he may consume to Mr. 

Bill Browder. 

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BILL BROWDER, FOUNDING DIRECTOR, GLOBAL MAGNITSKY 

CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE 

Mr. BROWDER. Co-Chairman Smith, thank you very much for inviting me here to this hearing. I’m here today to present the story 

of the Bitkov family to the Helsinki Commission. 

As you know, Sergei Magnitsky was my lawyer. When he was 

murdered by the Russian Government for uncovering corruption, I 

started a campaign for justice, which led to this commission spearheading the Magnitsky Act in 2012 and the Global Magnitsky Act 

in 2016. 

I also wrote a book about the Magnitsky story entitled ‘‘Red Notice.’’ Following the publication of the book, many people got in 

touch with me from around the world to share their stories. 

And one of those people was a woman named Irina Bitkov. Irina 

Bitkov shared a horrific story of how she was persecuted in the 

same way as Sergei Magnitsky, and she and her family fled their 

persecutors from Russia and ended up in Guatemala—to terrible 

results, which I will explain in greater detail. 

I’m here today to share the Bitkovs’ story because they can’t be 

here today to do it themselves. They are currently in Guatemalan 

prison, where Igor Bitkov, the father, is serving a 19-year prison 

sentence; Irina and her daughter, Anastasia, are serving 14-year 

prison sentences for passport violations. 

I’d like to point out that I have no business relationships with 

the Bitkovs. I am receiving no compensation for my advocacy here 

today. I’m here today because of the terrible, unconscionable injustice that they’ve been subject to, and I want to do something about 

it. 

The Bitkov story starts in the 1990s, when Igor and Irina Bitkov 

became the owners of a successful pulp and paper business called 

the North-West Timber Company. Over the 1990s they built their 

business, and it reached $80 million in profits, and it was valued 

at roughly $400 million. 

In the course of their business, the Bitkov family, through their 

company, obtained loans from Sberbank, VTB, and Gazprom, all 

state-owned banks, to upgrade their facilities. After the loans were 

given, one of the bankers approached the Bitkovs and asked them 

to sell 51 percent of their business for $25 million. Obviously, since 

their business was worth many multiples of that, they refused. 

Following this unwanted takeover request or attempt, a terrible 

trauma befell the Bitkov family. At the time, their daughter, 

Anastasia, was 16 years old. She was kidnapped in St. Petersburg. 

The kidnappers demanded a ransom, which took the family 3 days 

to accumulate. They paid the kidnappers the ransom. Anastasia 

was released. But when she was safely back home, the family discovered that she had been drugged and repeatedly raped by her 

kidnappers. The ordeal left Anastasia deeply traumatized and set 

off a cascade of psychiatric ailments, which require medication and 

treatment to this day. 

Following that, and in a further escalation of the attempts to 

take over their company, the Russian state banks simultaneously 

called in their $158 million of loans, forcing the company into 

bankruptcy. During the bankruptcy proceedings, the equipment of 

their facilities was sold at a fraction of its true value. 

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The Bitkovs were then told that they would be imminently arrested. This was the moment that the Bitkov family decided to flee 

Russia. First, they traveled to Latvia. Then they traveled to Turkey. And in Turkey, they looked around the world to seek a country 

where they could find refuge and start a new life safe from the persecution of Russians. They ended up choosing Guatemala because 

Guatemala had no extradition treaty with Russia, and they felt 

that they could be safe in Guatemala. 

They found an advertisement on the internet from a Latin American law firm called Cutino Associates that specializes in immigration law and advertised its expertise in organizing Guatemalan immigration for $50,000 per person. The family engaged Cutino and 

began the process of becoming immigrants to Guatemala. 

In their initial communications with Cutino, they explained that 

the reason for their immigration was to avoid persecution in Russia. Cutino explained to them that they could change their names 

in their immigration applications to avoid detection by the Russians. Cutino then submitted for the family papers, and the Guatemalan immigration services issued them new documents in new 

names. Anastasia kept her original name, hoping that because she 

was not targeted by the Russian authorities that she would be 

okay. 

The family then began a new life in Guatemala. Igor became a 

high school math teacher at the Brillo De Sol School in Antigua. 

Irina became a drawing teacher at the same school. And Anastasia 

began a career in fashion after regaining some of her confidence 

after her horrible ordeal in Russia. In January 2012, Irina Bitkov 

gave birth to a baby boy named Vladimir. It appeared that after 

their terrible ordeal with the Russian authorities had come to an 

end they could put that chapter behind them. 

Unfortunately, their dream of a new life came crashing down in 

late 2013. 

Investigators working for VTB Bank tracked down the Bitkovs in 

Guatemala. The head of the VTB Bank, Andrey Kostin, personally 

signed a power of attorney to Henry Comte, one of the country’s 

most prestigious attorneys in Guatemala and an alternative judge 

on the Guatemalan Supreme Court, to assist VTB in pursuing the 

Bitkovs in Guatemala. 

VTB Bank and Comte’s first attempt was to go after the Bitkovs 

in filing a criminal complaint with the Attorney General’s Office of 

Guatemala claiming that VTB had been defrauded by the Bitkovs 

in Russia. VTB presented photocopies of forged documents in the 

Guatemalan court. Those documents already had been rejected as 

forgeries in similar proceedings in Russian courts. When the Guatemalan court requested originals, VTB withdrew their criminal 

complaint. 

VTB and Henry Comte then came up with a Plan B to go after 

the Bitkovs. For several years before 2013 in Guatemala, there had 

been an ongoing investigation into human trafficking and Guatemalan officials’ complicity with human traffickers in the country. 

It was called the Migration Case, and it was supported by a U.N. 

organization called CICIG, whose mandate was to go after organized crime networks who previously enjoyed impunity in Guatemala. 

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VTB and Comte successfully convinced CICIG to focus on the 

Bitkovs as part of the Migration Case in spite of the fact that the 

Bitkovs were clearly not part of any organized network of traffickers. Inexplicably, VTB gained the legal status as an ‘‘interested 

party’’ in the Migration Case against the Bitkovs with the support 

of CICIG. In January 2015, a criminal case against the Bitkovs 

was opened at the direction of CICIG. Immediately after, 70 armed 

police officers raided the Bitkovs’ home; arrested Irina, Igor, and 

Anastasia; and detained them in a cage behind the parking garage 

of the main court building in Guatemala. 

While they were being held, Anastasia was deprived of her antidepression medications and she had a severe psychiatric breakdown. Anastasia and her mother were moved to a hospital under 

armed guard, and Igor was put in pretrial detention at the 

Mariscal Zavala prison while the case awaited trial. 

The Bitkovs arranged for their family lawyer, who is sitting with 

us today, Rolando Alvarado, to be the guardian for their 3-year-old 

child, Vladimir, while they were incarcerated. 

In spite of Mr. Alvarado’s valid guardianship papers, the Prosecutor of Guatemala filed a motion with the court calling for Vladimir Bitkov to be placed in a state orphanage instead. 

At this point, the Russian Government also got involved. Pavel 

Astakhov, the Russian Government’s ombudsman for children’s 

rights, publicly called for Vladimir Bitkov to be returned to Russia 

to be put into a Russian orphanage. The Russian foray failed because Vladimir is only a Guatemalan citizen and could not be returned to Russia. However, the Guatemalan prosecutor’s motion 

succeeded and Vladimir was placed in a state orphanage. 

The family desperately applied to reverse the decision and get 

Vladimir out of the orphanage. It took 42 days for that application 

to be heard. When Vladimir finally emerged, he was examined by 

medical experts who found he had an upper respiratory infection, 

severe inflammation of the middle ear, conjunctivitis in both eyes, 

scars along the left eyebrow, and chipped front teeth. They concluded that he suffered from physical and psychological abuses in 

the orphanage. 

In the meantime, the case against the Bitkovs for passport violations moved through the courts. They were formally indicted as 

part of the CICIG Migration Case in April 2015. 

The Bitkov family appealed the indictment in the Appeals Court, 

arguing that they were migrants and could not be subject to criminal prosecution applicable to the traffickers. In December 2017 the 

Guatemalan Appeals Court ruled in favor of the Bitkovs, declaring 

that any passport irregularities were administrative offenses punishable by a fine and as migrants they should not be under criminal penalty. 

However, CICIG and VTB were not happy with this decision, and 

both immediately filed appeals against the court decision that 

would have freed the Bitkovs. While their appeal was pending, the 

decision was not in force. 

A few days later, on January 5th, 2018, the Guatemalan District 

Court found Igor, Irina, and Anastasia Bitkov guilty as users of the 

criminal network in the Migration Case. The court sentenced Igor 

to 19 years in prison, and Irina and Anastasia to 14 years. CICIG 

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trumpeted their court victory on their website, pointing out that 

they prosecuted 39 people from the criminal network, including the 

Bitkovs. 

I understand that the 19-year prison sentence that Igor Bitkov 

was given was greater than sentences for manslaughter, rape, burglary, and fraud in Guatemala. The sentences that all three of 

them were given appears to exceed the sentences of many of the 

government officials in Guatemala and traffickers who were part of 

the human trafficking network. 

There was no evidence that the Bitkovs bribed any government 

official or were involved in any corruption. The Bitkovs, who did 

not speak Spanish and did not know anyone in Guatemala on arrival, relied on the law firm Cutino Associates, who presented 

themselves as legitimate migration lawyers. It also appears that 

nobody from Cutino Associates who organized their passports and 

settlement documents has ever been prosecuted. No other customers of Cutino have been tried, convicted, and sentenced like the 

Bitkovs. In the list presented by CICIG, which includes 39 people 

in the Migration Case, 36 were low- and middle-level government 

officials from different Guatemalan Government bodies and a few 

‘‘coyotes’’ who physically moved people through Guatemala. 

So what is going on here? There are two big Russian themes in 

this case, neither of which is unusual. 

First, in Russia, people who run successful businesses are routinely victimized through a process called reiderstvo. I was a victim 

of reiderstvo, and so were the Bitkovs. It is a standard practice in 

Russia where organized criminals work together with corrupt officials to extract property and money from their victims. There are 

literally hundreds of thousands of businessmen in Russia who are 

victims of this as well. 

The second theme is the abuse of international institutions. The 

Russian Government routinely abuses international institutions in 

order to persecute its enemies who are not inside of Russia. In my 

case, the Russian Government tried six times to have Interpol arrest me after the Magnitsky Act was passed. The Russian Government also successfully recruited a senior official inside the Swiss 

Federal Police to stymie a Swiss criminal investigation into money 

laundering by Russian officials in the Magnitsky case. The Russian 

Government has succeeded in getting the deputy attorney general 

of Cyprus in charge of mutual legal assistance and extradition affecting the Magnitsky case and many other politically sensitive 

cases to inappropriately assist the Russian Government in pursuing their enemies in Cyprus. This is not uncommon. 

In my opinion, the Russian Government succeeded in compromising CICIG and the Guatemalan prosecutor for their own purposes in the Bitkov case. CICIG and the prosecutor’s office have 

jointly taken up the Russian Government’s vendetta against the 

Bitkovs with no good explanation. CICIG did not distance itself 

from the Russian persecution. They touted it on their website and 

they actively tried to overturn the Bitkovs’ vindication by the Appeals Court. 

Nor has VTB tried to hide their role in this case. In spite of the 

fact that VTB obtained no financial recovery for their alleged financial dispute with the Bitkovs, they became an interested party in 

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a case involving something that had nothing to do with them in 

order to vindictively punish Igor Bitkov and his entire family. In 

The Wall Street Journal on April 4th, 2018, Igor Kostin, the chairman of VTB, says: ‘‘VTB’s actions relating to the Bitkov family is 

an example of standard procedure in resolving financial business 

disputes through the available legal channels.’’ 

This is an appalling case in which the Bitkov family deserves 

justice, and the United States has an opportunity to deliver them 

justice. CICIG is a U.N. organization in which approximately 50 

percent of their budget comes from the U.S. Government. I do not 

believe that you or anyone in the U.S. Congress or the U.S. Government ever envisaged that U.S. tax dollars would be spent to 

support a Russian Government persecution of a family fleeing that 

persecution in Guatemala. I would recommend that CICIG’s funding be suspended until this situation is resolved. 

When I began this process of advocating for the Bitkov family, 

I discovered that CICIG is a highly contentious issue in DC and 

around the world. There are some people who are pro-CICIG and 

there are some who are anti-CICIG. Up until 2 months ago, I had 

never heard of CICIG. I came into this case with no prejudices one 

way or another. I’ve gone where the evidence has led. And so far, 

the evidence leads toward the conclusion about the involvement of 

this organization in the Bitkovs’ persecution. 

As journalists from The Wall Street Journal and other news organizations have started to investigate, CICIG has avoided answering a number of crucial direct questions about their role in the 

Bitkov case and their support of VTB. When CICIG was invited to 

give evidence to Congress they declined, claiming as a U.N. institution they were not accountable to anybody in Congress. 

They can’t have it both ways. They can either be the heroic antiimpunity organization that their mandate sets them out to be or 

the situation at CICIG needs to be cleaned up. 

Thank you very much. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you so very much for your very incisive testimony and recommendations. 

We are joined by Commissioner Hultgren. Do you have anything 

you’d like to offer at the opening? 

HON. RANDY HULTGREN, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON 

SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. HULTGREN. No. I want to hear as much as I can, so thank 

you. I yield back. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you so much. I would just note that Congressman Hultgren is also the co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human 

Rights Commission and a very distinguished member of our commission. So it’s so great to have you here. Thank you. 

I’d like to now recognize Ms. Sandoval. 

VICTORIA SANDOVAL, CRIMINAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS 

ATTORNEY REPRESENTING THE BITKOV FAMILY 

Ms. SANDOVAL. Good morning, Chairman Smith. Good morning, 

Commissioner Hultgren. Distinguished members of the Helsinki 

Commission, for me, it is an honor to be invited to this hearing as 

a witness of the Bitkov Case. 

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1 Note: As of press time, the audio was no longer available online. 

My name is Victoria Sandoval. I am a lawyer, and I have been 

working with the Bitkovs since January 2015. I knew the Bitkovs 

back in 2011, when they came to live at the same neighborhood I 

was living. I could see how they were—they were a happy family 

raising his kid, Vladimir, into his Russian culture. 

On January 15th, 2015, I saw more than 16 official vehicles from 

Ministerio Publico, CICIG, and Policia Nacional Civil. They were 

raiding the Bitkovs’ house, and they were being arrested. The next 

day I saw the Bitkovs’ house had been locked up and was being 

guarded by two policemen. Even though it was guarded, their 

house was looted completely. 

They were transferred to the carceletas at the courthouse—the 

carceletas as the cages Bill Browder just described. These are located at the basement of the courthouse, and people should not 

stay there for more than 24 hours. But the Bitkovs were kept in 

for 5 days, Irina and Anastasia; and 9 days, Igor. The Russian ambassador didn’t show any concern about his fellow citizens. 

Anastasia, whose life depends on the regular intake of medication, was deprived of them. 

A judge ordered that Anastasia and Irina be transferred to a psychiatric hospital due to Anastasia’s psychiatric breakdown. The 

Sistema Penitenciario in charge of that transfer refused to do it for 

4 days. It wasn’t until Anastasia’s health became worse that they 

obeyed that order. Along with 50 agents of the Sistema 

Penitenciario, they were transferred to a 10-room hospital. The 

hospital declined receiving them because they feared such high 

number of officials will scare their other patients. So they were returned to the courthouse, where they were locked in an annex to 

the men’s area—only separated by a fence, which means that the 

men will have direct contact with them. Not even at the bathroom 

did they have any privacy. That meant torture for them. On the 

fifth day Irina and Anastasia were finally transferred to the Hospital Concepcio ́n, where they stayed for one year, guarded by two 

armed guards. 

In Igor’s case, at the carceleta he was deprived of proper sleep. 

After 9 days he was taken in front of the judge to give his first testimony. He was completely dumbfounded, had not been provided 

with any translator. His Spanish was not good at that time. 

At the hearing, CICIG’s senior attorney, Claudia Gonza ́lez 

Orellana, clearly supported VTB Bank participation by stating that 

the attorney acting on behalf of the VTB Bank actually has competency due to the offenses that happened in Russia, and that the 

Bitkovs are avoiding justice in that country. They came to Guatemala and committed other offenses, and none of this can be left in 

impunity. We consider that the offenses that took place in Russia 

and in Guatemala are related. 

I have an audio that I ask to be entered in the records. 1

Mr. SMITH. Without objection, it will. So ordered. 

Ms. SANDOVAL. When Igor was already at Mariscal Zavala, he 

was visited by the child prosecutor of the Procuradurı ́a General de 

la Nacı ́on, Harold Augusto Flores Valenzuela. He told him that he 

had been called and visited by CICIG officials that told him that 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

11 

2 https://www.bing.com/ videos/search?q=hospital+psiquiatrico+federico+mora+bbc&&view= 

detail&mid=C8314C4E3EFF3B347152C8314C4E3EFF3B347152&&FORM=VRDGAR; https:// 

www.bing.com/videos/search?q=hospitalde+salud+mental+federico+mora+bbc&&view= 

detail&mid=F15517CDCB9A2C709187F15517CDCB9A2C709 187&&FORM=VRDGAR 

he had to do everything in order to send Vladimir to an orphanage, 

that he couldn’t be sent with guardians. That’s why Vladimir was 

sent to the orphanage Amor del Nino, where he was abused. Harold Flores saw that the reports on Vladimir’s guardians were just 

fine and he chose to ignore them. Also did Judge Marı ́a Bele ́n 

Reyna Salazar. And, in consequence, Vladimir was sent to that orphanage. Flores also told that he was threatened by CICIG’s officials that if he didn’t comply he will be fired or prosecuted. 

All this is written in an affidavit that Igor signed that I ask that 

also be added to the records, please. 

Mr. SMITH. Without objection. 

Ms. SANDOVAL. Okay. 

Anastasia’s psychiatric disorder were triggered by her kidnapping in Russia in which she was repeatedly raped and drugged. 

She has been diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder and borderline syndrome. According to the psychiatric reports of the National 

Institute for Forensic Science of Guatemala, INACIF, that also has 

stated that Anastasia should not be sent to a prison because it 

could cause her to make further attempts to commit suicide. She 

has already attempted five times to suicide. 

Ignoring this, the president of the tribunal, Judge Yassmin 

Barrios, ordered to send her to the Mariscal Zavala prison for 14 

years, the judge threatening her, as well as the warden of the prison, with sending her to the Federico Mora Psychiatric Hospital if 

she shows any sign of her illness. 

I also have the link to a video that was recorded by BBC where 

it shows the condition of this National Mental Hospital, qualifying 

it as the worst in the American continent. So I ask it to be added 

at the records. 2

Mr. SMITH. Without objection. 

Ms. SANDOVAL. Thank you. 

Ignoring this, the Bitkovs were sentenced for 19 and 14 years in 

prison last January 5th by the tribunal proceeded by Judge 

Yassmin Barrios. There are many similar cases of people accused 

of similar offenses, but they have all been treated very differently. 

Among them I will like to describe you this one that is rather 

shocking. In February 2018—that means 1 month later after the 

Bitkovs’ verdict—a verdict was issued by the same tribunal proceeded by Judge Yassmin Barrios. Two members of the dangerous 

and notorious MS–13 were condemned to suspended prison for 5 

years and no expulsion for the same offenses. These members of 

the MS–13, Israel Antonio Cabrera, whose alias is ‘‘the demon,’’ 

and Mauricio Antonio Rivas, alias ‘‘the goat,’’ were from El Salvador, and there they have been accused of murdering 25 people. 

Now they are free in Guatemala’s streets. 

I also have this ruling that I will ask to be also added to the 

records. 

The evil within this case is shocking. The Kremlin, through VTB 

Bank, has conspired in the Guatemalan justice system to, one, separate a 3-year-old boy from his family and send him to an orphanCSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

12 

age where he was tortured; two, to lock up in a prison a young 

woman with a psychiatric disorder; and finally, and third, condemn 

with ridiculous punishment a family who went to Guatemala in 

order to flee Russian persecution that was threatening to destroy 

their lives in contravention of the Palermo Convention, Guatemalan migration law, and an order from the Constitutional Court. 

Anastasia told me once: I have suffered a lot. My life has never 

been even close to normal. I want to fight so my little brother can 

have a normal life, and he still has still some time to do that. 

Thank you very much. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you so very much for your testimony and for 

your bravery in helping the Bitkov family. 

I would like to now yield the floor to Mr. Alvarado. 

[Note: Mr. Alvarado’s remarks are made through an interpreter.] 

ROLANDO ALVARADO, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING THE 

BITKOV FAMILY AND PROFESSOR OF LAW AND FOUNDING 

PARTNER, CORPOLEGAL 

Mr. ALVARADO. Good morning, Co-Chairman Smith, distinguished members of the Helsinki Commission, and everyone here 

in this room. It’s an honor for me to have been invited to this hearing to bear witness in the Bitkov case. 

I am knowledgeable about what has transpired in the case involving the Russian family, the Bitkov family, because I personally 

met Irina Bitkova and Anastasia Bitkova 2 years before they were 

arrested. I am knowledgeable about the facts surrounding their 

case because I was the lawyer of their family and currently I have 

guardianship over their child and have had since 2015—that’s 

Vladimir Bitkov, who is now 6 years of age. That is the son of Igor 

and Irina. 

So the activities for which the Bitkov family have been accused 

are as follows: For the use of a passport and identity documents 

that were issued by the Guatemalan state, and that CICIG and the 

Public Ministry of the Office of the Attorney General now consider 

to have been issued illegally. 

So these activities do not constitute a crime; however, CICIG and 

the Public Ministry brought criminal charges which were egregiously disproportionate, as if they had been crimes of drug trafficking or terrorism, crimes of high impact. Furthermore, CICIG 

brought criminal charges or pursued criminal proceedings before 

special courts known as courts for cases involving high levels of 

risk—all this for what amounts to migratory law misdemeanors. 

CICIG has no jurisdiction to take part as a complainant against 

the Bitkov family because the mandate given it by the United Nations and by the government of Guatemala establishes that said 

commission would only have jurisdiction to investigate crimes committed by members of illegal security forces or clandestine security 

bodies or forces. And the Bitkov family was not accused of being 

a part of these illegal security forces, and therefore does not fall 

under the aegis of the authority entrusted to CICIG, which means 

that CICIG has overstepped its boundaries in exercising these legal 

powers, which is tantamount to the abuse of authority. 

Furthermore, CICIG, in violating the agreement that gave rise to 

its creation, is also in violation of the Palermo Convention because 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

13 

it has deliberately accused or charged the victims in this case—the 

immigrants, the Bitkov family—and did not bring charges against 

the perpetrators of these crimes, which is the Cutino international 

organization, which is a trafficking organization. 

Despite the fact that the activities that the Bitkov family were 

accused of don’t constitute any crime, the following ensued: On 

January the 15th of 2015, CICIG and the Public Ministry, with the 

support of the national police, carried out three searches. I personally witnessed the search that was conducted in the Bitkov family 

home. It lasted 20 hours and close to 70 police officers who were 

heavily armed took part in that search. They went into their rooms 

while they were sleeping and they didn’t even let them get dressed 

in privacy. They weren’t allowed to call their lawyer until 3 hours 

after the beginning of the search. 

I asked the prosecutor, Stuart Ernesto Campo Aguilar, why there 

were so many police officers, and he told me that this case 

stemmed from a multimillion-dollar fraud case that the Bitkov 

family had committed against a Russian bank, and it was the Russian bank that was bringing criminal charges against the Bitkov 

family. 

So they seized vehicles, jewelry and the personal belongings of 

the Bitkov family. And after that, the national police actually 

looted their home. This search lasted until 1:40 in the early morning of the next day, when it finally ended. And that was when they 

woke up Vladimir, the little boy, and they put him in a pickup 

truck headed to the courts that were open at that hour. The child 

was only 3 years old. All this information can be found in the 

search warrant, which I would ask be admitted on the record. 

Mr. SMITH. Without objection, so ordered. 

Mr. ALVARADO. So the judge in chambers, the judge on that shift 

at that time, granted me custody of the child, and also appointed, 

as custodian of this child, the baby sitter Veronica Gonzalez. On 

February the 10th of 2015, Judge Maria Belen Reyna Salazar illegally ruled that the child be taken away from their legal guardians—from us, their legal guardians—alleging that we were not the 

child’s relatives and that even the identity of their—of the child’s 

parents was in question. That doubt or question about the child’s 

identity stemmed from a report that the Special Prosecutors Office 

Against Impunity, FECI, had sent in which it states that the identity of Vladimir was flawed. And that is the rationale under which 

the child was sent to the orphanage called Amor del Nino, Love of 

the Child, where he was kept for 42 days. 

The judge denied any visitation rights to little Vladimir, which 

means that he was left entirely alone. He emerged from this orphanage with a broken tooth, with a scar above his eyebrow, with 

conjunctivitis, and with amibus [ph]. I have the medical records of 

the injuries sustained by Vladimir. And I would ask that they be 

admitted to the record. 

Mr. SMITH. Without objection, so ordered. 

Mr. ALVARADO. From the outset of these proceedings, the VTB 

Bank justified its participation in the proceedings, alleging that it 

had been defrauded in Russia by the Bitkov family. The involvement of the VTB Bank was always supported and defended by 

CICIG through CICIG’s agent that had the power of attorney to opCSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

14 

erate on CICIG’s behalf, Claudia Gonzalez Orellana, who declared 

to a judge that the facts that occurred in Russia were related to 

facts that occurred in Guatemala, and therefore VTB Bank should 

be allowed to defend its interests in Guatemala. 

The Bitkov family said that the identity documents had been 

processed by a law firm known as Cutino International. Cutino was 

never investigated by CICIG, despite the fact that the Bitkov family reported Cutino, requesting that it be investigated, and offering 

sufficient evidence with which to identify the responsible parties. 

Igor declared that the payment made to Cutino was done via bank 

transfer, and asked CICIG to look into that, to trace that transfer. 

It was also reported that the Cutino case, or its involvement, was 

also reported directly to Commissioner Ivan Velasquez. And we 

have a video showing the conversation between Commissioner 

Velasquez and Irina that also bears witness to the political persecution perpetrated by Russia. 

So we have sufficient evidence. And we provided that evidence to 

Commissioner Velasquez, as well as a letter written by Senator 

Roger Wicker of 2015, yet the commissioner did not act on that evidence presented. CICIG then participated as a complainant against 

the immigrants, the Bitkov family, and asked for a 19-year prison 

sentence. And such a sentence has never been meted out against 

any other foreigner. 

During the debate, the manager of the company that issued the 

passports stated that thousands of passports are processed irregularly on a regular basis, and in favor of foreign nationals. Furthermore, the witness Carlos Rene Gomez Diaz stated in witness testimony that the General Office on Migration issued between one and 

three illegal passports every week in favor of foreign nationals. 

However, the Bitkov family was the only family ever to be given 

prison sentences. And the few foreigners who were ever tried only 

received commuted sentences. That is to say that instead of going 

to jail, all they had to do was pay a fine and go back to their country of origin. 

Another illegal act that emerged during the criminal proceedings 

was that before the Bitkov family was found guilty, during the discussion a superior constitutional court granted a writ of amparo in 

favor of Igor Bitkov, and in the sentence said that migrants cannot 

be criminally tried. CICIG appealed that sentence, and the court 

did not follow through—did not adhere to the ruling that had been 

issued regarding the prior appeals. Anastasia Bitkova was sent to 

prison, despite the fact that she suffers a psychiatric illness, and 

that as a result of this her life is in danger. 

Yesterday the Constitutional Court, the highest court of Guatemala, issued a sentence whereby it declares that the Bitkov family 

are immigrant and they never should have been criminally tried. 

This confirms the human rights violations that were perpetrated 

against the Bitkov family that I have described in my witness testimony. Furthermore, the human rights ombudsman’s office has said 

that the rights of the child, the rights of Vladimir, the boy, were 

also violated by the judge who illegally sent him to an orphanage. 

So everything that I have said can be legally substantiated. And 

all of these illegal acts that destroyed the Bitkov family were carried out at the request of CICIG and the Public Ministry. And 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

15 

these are acts that cannot go unpunished—cannot remain in impunity. 

Thank you very much. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much for your testimony and for 

your very incisive words today. Let me just begin the questioning 

with Mr. Browder first. 

Thank you for giving us a backdrop of how the Russian officials 

act—reiderstvo, as you said. And you also pointed out that you 

have been victimized by this as well, so you speak from a firstperson account. Six times the Russian Government tried to get 

Interpol to arrest you for your incredible work on the Magnitsky 

Act. I would just point, parenthetically—and the press might want 

to take note of this—I’ve traveled to the Soviet Union when it was 

the Soviet Union, on behalf of the Soviet Jews, on behalf of religious freedom. And always got a visa. When I worked to get the 

Magnitsky Act passed, I was denied a visa. And I haven’t gotten 

once since. 

I had hoped to go to Russia to talk and work with them in combating human trafficking. I’ve worked with a number of NGOs in 

Moscow and elsewhere that combat human trafficking and help 

Russian women who are victimized. And yet, the long arm of this 

corruption denied me—continues to deny me a visa to go to Russia. 

That’s nowhere near as burdensome and threatening, of course, as 

what you have faced and so many of these others. 

You also point out that thousands of businessmen are in jail who 

are victims of this. And that’s the best-kept secret out there. Some 

journalists have pointed this out, but this is common practice. It’s 

not an exception. It’s a common practice. 

And so, if you could, Mr. Browder—you also talked about how a 

Swiss Federal Police—they successfully recruited a senior official 

inside the Swiss Federal Police, to stymie a criminal investigation 

into money laundering. So this is a modus operandi that is global. 

And this is a manifestation that has happened with CICIG complicity in Guatemala. 

How do they do it? Do they pay people? You did point out in your 

testimony that a very distinguished attorney was hired by VTB 

Bank, Henry Comte, as you point out. 

And I mean, so a plan was hatched. Obviously, or likely, huge 

amounts of money were conveyed to interested parties. Then all of 

a sudden, with the support of CICIG, they are part of the migration case. And again, when it comes to trafficking, I take a backseat to no one, because I’ve written four major laws on combating 

human trafficking, including our first. And there’s nowhere here 

any suggestion that the Bitkovs are involved with trafficking. 

They are involved in trying to protect their children from—and 

just let me say parenthetically that Pavel Astakhov, the Russian 

Government’s ombudsman for children’s rights, cut off inter-country adoptions, which had been a lifeline for Russian children finding homes—loving homes in the United States and elsewhere. But 

that was a total reaction to the Magnitsky Act, that we were finally 

holding people who are corrupt and commit serious, serious human 

rights abuses personally responsible for their crimes. 

So if you could further elaborate on that backdrop, because the 

question is why and whether or not there were bribes involved, 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

16 

who was paid, why did they become a part of this? Nineteen years, 

fourteen years prison sentences. You know, I’ve never seen anything like this, except in gulag states. You know, Guatemala is not 

a gulag state, but they certainly have a situation that is outrageous. So if you could give us—talk about that—— 

Mr. BROWDER. That’s an excellent question, and a crucial question. The Russian Government has unlimited resources that they’re 

using to corrupt and infiltrate international institutions. We have 

evidence of their involvement in corruption in the Swiss Federal 

Police, as I mentioned. We have evidence of involvement in the corruption of the deputy attorney general of Cyprus. And we have evidence of their involvement in the corruption of international organizations like the Olympics. We have evidence of their involvement 

in all sorts of activities like that. 

And what the Russian Government does is, they poke around to 

see who is susceptible to corruption and bribery. And many people 

say no. But they find people who say yes. And they have plenty of 

money to do it. They know exactly how to do it, because they do 

it all day, every day inside their own country. And so they’re experienced at doing it. And the Putin regime does it in foreign countries. And they find willing takers. 

And what makes it more pernicious is that once the person has 

become involved in their corruption, they threaten them with murder if they stop doing it. They say: You’ve taken our money. If you 

stop doing the things we ask you to do, not only will we expose you, 

but we will kill you. And so people become very scared of backing 

down. And we see a lot of situations where people have been corrupted and they dig their heels in, even after they’ve been exposed, 

because they’re so afraid of the people who corrupted them in the 

first place. 

I do not have any direct evidence of why CICIG was involved in 

this inexplicable persecution of the Bitkov—— 

Mr. SMITH. But there is no doubt that they are. 

Mr. BROWDER. The Bitkovs have been inexplicably persecuted by 

CICIG, with the involvement of VTB Bank. That we have evidence. 

That evidence has been presented today. I don’t know why. But it 

tends to be that when people behave irrationally, when this organization which is supposed to be an anti-impunity human rights organization is persecuting a Russian family who is fleeing for their 

life, the obvious question is why. And we can’t leave it unanswered. 

And I’ve seen the answers that CICIG has tried to give for justifying themselves, and none of those answers make any sense or address the crucial questions. Why were they supporting VTB in 

court hearings? Why did they, together with VTB, appeal the exoneration of the Bitkovs by the Supreme Court? None of these questions have been answered by them. And they refused to show up 

here today to answer those questions. And you need to get answers 

to those questions. 

Mr. SMITH. Well, I would assure you, we will ask them again to 

come. I will pose a series of questions in total transparency. We 

want to know when was the decision made? By whom, or how 

many people were involved in that decision, whether or not there 

was any kind of conveyance of financial money of any kind, anything of value. And as I said in my opening, there needs to be a 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

17 

full and robust investigation of CICIG’s complicating in this persecution of a family that was trying to evade a modus operandi of the 

Russian corruption system. And this is how they do it. And they 

do it everywhere they can get away with it. And they should not 

be a part of that in any way, shape, or form. 

I would point out, you said in your statement that the Wall 

Street Journal April 4th article—and you quote Igor Kostin, the 

chairman of the VTB Bank, where he says, ‘‘VTB’s action relating 

to the Bitkov family is an example of standard procedure in resolving financial business disputes through the available legal channels.’’ Persecute, give massive prison sentences, put a young 

woman named Anastasia, a daughter, tried to abduct—and I would 

call this a kidnapping—of a young boy, who was not even Russian—he’s Guatemalan, born in Guatemala. To kidnap him back to 

an orphanage, and the very man doing it is the one who ended 

inter-country adoptions in Russia. 

We got a letter to the commission from the VTB Bank, from the 

general counsel. And he says that VTB has been a model corporate 

citizen, VTB has worked to combat corruption, every action we 

have taken comports with global norms. Well, let’s hope that they 

are completely transparently open to the investigation and will answer every question and provide every set of documents asked and 

requested by either the U.S. Government or any other responsible 

body in trying to get to the bottom of this. Because this kind of assertion, when people are suffering so cruelly in prison as we meet 

here today, is beyond comprehension. 

Let me ask you, if I could, what do you make of the attempt to 

abduct Vladimir and to take him back to a Russian orphanage, as 

if the Russian Government owns this little boy rather than his loving parents and you, who have tried to provide help and assistance 

to him, and love. 

Mr. BROWDER. It’s very clear. The VTB Bank and their co-conspirators stripped the Bitkov family of all their wealth back in Russia. There was nothing more to get. The cupboards were empty. 

And so many people ask me when they look at this case: Why? 

Why are they doing this? And I believe that the answer is very 

similar to the answer of why they attempted to murder Sergei 

Skripal, which is Sergei Skripal had no more intelligence to provide 

the U.K. Government. But the purpose of both of these exercises 

for different audiences—and these are all directed toward domestic 

audiences—in the Skripal case, it was to say: If you betray us, it 

doesn’t matter where you go, it doesn’t matter when you go, we’ll 

track you down anywhere in the world and we will kill you and we 

will kill your family. That’s the message to their secret service. 

In the Bitkov case, the message for VTB Bank and other banks 

is: If we come and ask you to sign over your wealth to us don’t object, because look what happened to the Bitkov family. We tracked 

them down in Guatemala. And we didn’t just go after Igor Bitkov. 

We went after his wife, his daughter, and their 3-year-old son. And 

we will destroy you and we’ll destroy everybody. That’s the message that they’re trying to send to anybody they’re trying to extract 

money from in Russia. So the next time they go and ask them for 

money, the people will say: Here you go. Let me sign the papers. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

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Mr. SMITH. Has CICIG or any Guatemalan authority ever provided justification why the prison sentences are so outrageously 

long, or a document? 

Mr. BROWDER. I’m not an expert on Guatemalan law, but the 

documents that I’ve seen, they just rotely write down the justification by the judge, which it reads like something out of Kafka, suppression of civil status, 5 years. Alteration of government document, 7 years—or 8 years. And none of this stuff makes any sense 

when you sort of step away and say, let’s look at the real-world situation. As Mr. Alvarado has said—or, actually, I think it was Victoria who said, that members of the Nicaraguan criminal gangs 

that have killed 25 people were given suspended sentences for the 

same crime. How does that work? 

Mr. SMITH. Let me ask you, what is the relationship between 

Guatemalan law enforcement and judicial authorities and CICIG? 

How easily can those authorities say no to a CICIG instruction regarding the prosecution of, say, the Bitkovs? 

Mr. BROWDER. I think this would be a question better for the 

Guatemalan lawyers. 

Ms. SANDOVAL. They have a very big power. They are not accountable to anyone in Guatemala. They have the power to destroy 

careers, professionals. There are many people that fear them. 

Might be people that have something beneath them that they can 

be chased for and that helps them control them, maybe. People— 

many judges try to please them. They try to please them what they 

are—they asked. 

Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Okay. Could I ask you about Vladimir—what is the 

state of health right now? You know, how well or poorly is he 

doing? And—— 

Mr. ALVARADO. After he got out of the orphanage we’ve had to 

hire psychological therapy—intensive psychological therapy for 

him. He would wake up at night having awful nightmares. So he’s 

6 years old now. He had just turned three when I got him. And he 

has matured quite a bit. He has been forced to grow up really fast. 

And something really interesting that he says all the time, and 

that is, if I weren’t a kid I would be in jail. 

Mr. SMITH. And if I could, on Anastasia, who has suffered so 

much, having been raped, denied her medicine, as you’ve pointed 

out in your testimonies, in another manifestation of cruelty in this 

whole process—how is she faring? 

Ms. SANDOVAL. She’s having a very hard time right now since, 

as I told you, she has been threatened to be sent to the Federico 

Mora National Mental Hospital. This hospital, as I told you before, 

has been qualified as the worst hospital in the whole American 

continent. And she fears to be free to express herself because she 

thinks people might interpret that as she’s having a breakdown 

and she could be sent, because the Judge Yassmin Barrios, a few 

days after they were sent to Mariscal Zavala, ordered the National 

Forensic Science Institute to go and check on her to see if it was 

necessary to send her to that hospital. So she’s living through a living hell, not being able to be herself. She is trying to fit in what 

she cannot fit completely. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

19 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. If I could ask you, who is Mayra Veliz? 

Are you aware of any position she may have had in any of the organizations, entities that are relevant during the time period pertinent to the Bitkov case? And to the best of your knowledge, are you 

aware of CICIG or the attorney general of Guatemala investigating 

Mayra Veliz for wrongdoing or bringing any charges against her? 

Mr. ALVARADO. Mayra Veliz is the secretary general of the Public 

Ministry. That means she’s second in authority after the prosecutor 

or the attorney general himself. She worked in immigration policy. 

And she was the one who would sign off on documents or sign for 

national documents because she worked in that part of the Public 

Ministry responsible for foreign affairs involving foreign nationals. 

Now, there’s a rumor that one hears constantly in the halls of the 

courts to the effect that Mayra Veliz is closely associated with 

Cutino International. 

So recently a lawyer visited Igor in jail and reported to him some 

information about Mayra Veliz to the fact that for some time when 

she worked in migration she would sign the documents for different 

foreign nationals, some of whom were of Arab descent, Pakistanis. 

And also, that she had signed the documents for members of ISIS, 

that is, the Islamic State. So this lawyer provided his name and 

phone number. He does not want to be a witness in Guatemala because he fears for his life. What he wants is for the United States 

to call him, to grant him special protection in exchange for his providing information on this criminal structure—information that he 

has on it. 

So this leader, as we identified him as being—the leader of this 

criminal structure that is the Cutino International that CICIG did 

not want to investigate is Marcos Cutino. This lawyer said that 

Marcos Cutino goes by different alias, different names, in the U.S. 

and Mexico, Canada and Guatemala. 

Mr. SMITH. We’re quickly running out of time, if you could provide—okay. 

Mr. ALVARADO. Sorry. Something very interesting about the 

Bitkov case that’s suspicious is that when we reported this criminal 

activity on the part of this criminal structure, Cutino International, 

2 days after that, Thelma Aldana—that is, the prosecutor general 

of the country—or, we actually heard from lawyers who identified 

themselves as American lawyers, said that they were already 

aware of this case, and of the fact that we were reporting this case 

to the attorney general, and they wanted to meet with us about it. 

So these reports were also sent to CICIG. And they asked us what 

we—okay, we asked for a hearing, a meeting with Thelma Aldana, 

the prosecutor general, and rather than being met by her, it was 

Mayra Veliz who received us. And so I think that this warrants 

that the U.S. Government conduct an in-depth investigation into 

what the true role of Mayra Veliz is. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. 

Ms. Jackson Lee. 

HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON 

SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Let me thank the witnesses that have come 

this morning—Victoria Sandoval, Rolando Alvarado, and Mr. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

20 

Browder. This commission, the Helsinki Commission, for those of 

us who are on it, is taken enormously seriously. And I thank the 

presiding chair. 

Our time is short so, Mr. Browder, let me just say to you that 

my outrage is mounting. And of course, as we are involved in the 

trail of Russian involvement in the 2016 elections, we’re beginning 

to see certainly their despotic handprint across the world as it relates to humanitarian issues. So let me just quickly ask just one 

question which disturbs me. 

I was at the United Nations this past Monday. And I have long 

been a supporter of the value of the United Nations. So I am interested in how we can intervene and while the CICIG, a U.N.-backed 

organization to promote the rule of law, allowed the Bitkovs to be 

treated as scandalous passport violators. And is there any hope in 

that entity, and/or the United Nations—because the husband and 

wife are still incarcerated. The daughter, I did not hear where, I’m 

sorry. 

Mr. BROWDER. Is incarcerated as well. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Is incarcerated. And the son is now back in 

Guatemala. 

Mr. BROWDER. The son is with Mr. Alvarado. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Yes. But can we just go to that question about 

how it was fraudulently made into an organization that would do 

what they did to the Bitkovs? 

Mr. BROWDER. The Russians are specialists at this. As I mentioned, they’ve abused Interpol, in my case. And let me point something out, which is that from everything that I’ve been told, the 

concept of CICIG is a good concept. To fight impunity and fight 

human rights abuses with a strong organization is a good concept, 

as is Interpol for going after fugitives. 

The issue is not the organization itself, but it’s if that organization is being abused. And I’ve seen how Interpol’s abused, which 

doesn’t make the argument that we shouldn’t have Interpol. It 

makes the argument that we should set up checks and balances 

and reviews so that abuses can’t happen. 

It appears, from this gross abuse of process with the Bitkovs by 

CICIG that there’s something wrong in their controls and their reviews. And this is a highly politicized story. 

There are many people at this hearing. Many people probably 

disagree with me about even bringing up CICIG. But how could I 

not when they’ve been involved in this terrible persecution of this 

family? And so there needs to be a review. And if it turns out that 

there was corruption or malfeasance, then those people need to be 

punished. 

And there needs to be a checks and balances in place so that 

doesn’t happen in the future. There are many U.N. organizations, 

as Chairman Smith has told us, that function badly. And in the 

case of raping—in Africa, raping young girls by U.N. peacekeepers, 

bad things do happen by organizations that are set up for good purposes. There’s a bad thing that’s happened here. And it needs to 

be reviewed, and it needs to be reviewed aggressively and thoroughly. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Let me just conclude my point and say that 

obviously peacekeepers are the soldiers that are offered by counCSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

21 

tries. I would give, not the U.N. a pass, but I would explain that 

they are, you know, extensions thereof, and certainly should not be 

condoned in their behavior. In this instance, I think the U.N. can 

be involved positively. I would like to have a way for the Helsinki 

Commission to—we have a lot of hearings—but to take this issue 

on. It is tragic what has happened, but I think the important point 

for the world to hear is that Russia acts as an international thug. 

And what has happened is the world allows it to do so. Not the 

Russian people—that I respect and love. I’m sure they’re there 

doing all they can for their families. But we have to say to the Russian Government, the intelligence agency, Vladimir Putin, that 

enough is enough in thuggery. So I hope that we will pursue this, 

Mr. Chairman. 

And with that, I yield back. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Ms. Lee. 

And that is why we’re having this hearing. This is the first step 

in what will be a series of not only hearings but action items. I 

agree with Mr. Browder that we need to suspend CICIG’s funding. 

I mean, this is outrageous. This is cruel and degrading treatment. 

I mean, even the Convention Against Torture body—you know, the 

implementing body ought to be looking at this. To so mistreat people for a document? 

And the document was done—if my family were in that situation 

and we were fighting to get into another country because the goons 

from Russia were on the prowl to take out their lives, so you end 

up with a document to try to protect you. And then you get 19 

years, 14 years, and 14 years—it is absolutely outrageous. This is 

cruel and degrading treatment. And we will pursue this aggressively. 

With that, I would ask unanimous consent that statements by 

Marco Rubio, James Lankford, and Michael Lee—three senators 

who couldn’t be here today but wanted to express their strongly 

held opinion—be made a part of the record. 

Again, I thank you so much—we’re only finishing up because we 

do have a whole series of votes. Thank you so much for your testimony and for your leadership. 

The hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

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PREPARED STATEMENTS

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

The Russian Government regularly pursues its vendettas beyond 

its borders, harassing and even murdering Russian emigres 

abroad—people who are on the Putin circle’s target list for various 

reasons. The poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in England is 

one of the most recent examples to reach the news. 

The Kremlin’s sadistic pursuit of the entire Bitkov family is in 

its way just as shocking as its cruel murder of Litvinenko and the 

attempted murders of the Skripals. The Bitkovs are still alive 

today, but they have been hounded for over a decade, to the opposite end of the world, and beyond the limits of human endurance— 

merely for resisting Putin favorites who sought to take over their 

successful paper manufacturing company. 

More shocking, the facts of the case strongly indicate—and we 

will hear testimony on this today—that the United Nation’s International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, or CICIG, 

became deeply involved in the Kremlin’s persecution of the Bitkov 

family. Indeed that CICIG acted as the Kremlin’s operational agent 

in brutalizing and tormenting the Bitkov family. 

Congress has a special responsibility in this matter because the 

United States is one of the largest contributors to CICIG’s budget. 

There has been little congressional oversight of CICIG—it’s clearly 

time for that to change. 

In the 1990s Igor and Irina Bitkov built the North-West Timber 

Company, acquiring and modernizing old factories to increase 

paper production. As their company grew, the Bitkovs took loans 

from several Russian state banks to finance further modernization. 

Their business prospered—grew to a value of hundreds of millions 

of dollars—and the family was approached by a powerful bank executive who sought to buy a majority share in the company at a 

significantly below-market rate. Other officials asked Irina to become politically involved in President Vladimir Putin’s party. 

When the Bitkovs refused things got very ugly. Their 16-year-old 

daughter, Anastasia, was kidnapped for several days, drugged, and 

repeatedly raped. Her parents ransomed her—paying the money to 

policemen, who said they were go-betweens to the kidnappers. 

Then the banks suddenly called in the loans, even though the 

Bitkovs had excellent credit. The family was threatened with imprisonment and death. 

Fearing for their lives, the family fled Russia. They found what 

they thought was legal refuge in Guatemala with the help of a 

Guatemalan law firm. They acquired Guatemalan passports, 

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bought a house, learned Spanish, and gave birth to their second 

child, Vladimir. 

But the Kremlin caught up to them and VTB Bank, one of Russia’s biggest state-controlled banks, often referred to as ‘‘Putin’s 

Piggy Bank,’’ filed a complaint against them in Guatemala, alleging 

use of false identification documents. 

While we don’t know exactly what transpired internally to CICIC 

and the Guatemalan state agencies that work with them, it appears to have been taken up by the Guatemalan state and CICIG. 

In any case, the Bitkovs suddenly found themselves catapulted into 

what has become for them a horror without end. 

On January 15, 2015, Igor, Irina, Anastasia and Vladimir were 

awoken by an armed raid on their home—70 or so armed policemen 

woke them up, took them away, and spent 20 hours tearing apart 

their home and their office. 

It got much worse—the Bitkovs were put into cages for 9 days. 

Their daughter—remember she had been kidnapped and repeatedly 

raped years earlier—was denied medication, now suffered a nervous breakdown. As the ordeal continued, she would later make 

multiple suicide attempts. Their infant son was torn away from 

them, not even permitted to stay with friends, and sent to an orphanage, where he sustained facial injuries, a chipped tooth, conjunctivitis, lost the ability to speak. When family friends recovered 

him they found that, when given food, little Vladimir immediately 

began hiding it under his shirt. I will not say more now about the 

Bitkov’s harrowing ordeal—their lawyers will speak to that. Suffice 

it to say that Igor, Irina, and Anastasia have remained incarcerated since January 2015. 

In January of this year, despite an earlier appeals court ruling 

that the Bitkov’s alleged offense was only administrative in nature 

and punishable with a fine, Igor was sentenced to 19 years in prison and Irina and Anastasia were sentenced to 14 years each. These 

sentences were far harsher than those given to Guatemalan officials who perpetrated the sale of passports—they are harsher than 

sentences given to rapists or murderers. 

What was CICIG’s role in all of this? What we know for a fact 

is this: CICIG and a special branch of the attorney general’s office 

worked together on the investigation and arrest of the Bitkovs— 

CICIG personnel participated in the raid on the Bitkov’s home. 

Then CICIG and VTB Bank initiated and aggressively pursued the 

legal case against them, consistently arguing at every level of the 

judicial process against the Bitkovs, including against their appeal 

to be tried as migrants guilty of an administrative offense rather 

than a criminal one. CICIG—via its representative Claudia Gonzalez Orellana—defended the role of the VTB Bank in the prosecution of the Bitkovs. Oddly, CICIG never prosecuted the law firm 

which provided the Bitkovs with the passports that destroyed their 

lives. 

As we will hear from Bill Browder: ‘‘Inexplicably . . . in January 

2015, a criminal case against the Bitkovs was opened at the direction of CICIG. Immediately after, 70 armed police officers raided 

the Bitkov’s home, arrested Irina, Igor, and Anastasia and detained 

them in cages behind the parking garage in the main court building of Guatemala City.’’ 

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CICIG was invited to participate in this event and brief us today, 

but declined. They have sent a note, requesting that it be made 

part of the record, as has VTB Bank. Without objection, that will 

be done. 

During questions, I will quote from CICIG’s note—asking our 

witnesses about CICIG’s account. 

Just yesterday afternoon, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala—the country’s highest court—upheld an earlier decision by a 

lower court that had granted the Bitkovs’ appeal to be considered 

migrants, and therefore, under international law, not able to be 

tried as criminals. It is not yet clear what this ruling will mean— 

it seems to mean that the family could be released from prison— 

but also that they could be deported back to Russia. Time will tell. 

I want to make an appeal to the Guatemalan government, to 

CICIG, to our government, and to the UN—this is a time to focus 

on restoring to this family as much as possible of what has been 

unjustly taken from them. Their safety must come first—we must 

assume that they remain targets for the Kremlin. They must not 

be returned to Russia. They have to be protected, and safe haven 

must be found for them. 

And then there must be accountability for the grotesque wrong 

that has been done to them. There must be further inquiry, and we 

must get to the bottom of this. 

It would be the worst irony if CICIG, which was created to battle 

for accountability for corruption, were now to seek only to avoid 

scrutiny and accountability. CICIG cannot credibly do battle 

against a culture of impunity if it demands impunity for itself. 

This is the time for CICIG—and its commissioner Iva ́n 

Vela ́squez—to throw open its doors, provide transparency, and give 

an honest accounting to the world of exactly what was CICIG’s role 

in the cruelty that was wreaked on the Bitkovs. Unfortunately, up 

to now it has done nothing of the sort. I urge CICIG to change 

course now. 

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PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. ROGER WICKER

Thank you, Co-Chairman Smith, for convening this emergency 

hearing today. As our longest-serving commissioner, your 

doggedness to defend human dignity over the years has advanced 

the cause of freedom and saved countless lives around the world. 

As members of Congress, we have a particular obligation to ensure the causes and institutions funded by the United States remain consistent with our values and our interests. 

Today, the Commission will examine the harrowing experience of 

a Russian family who fell victim to an all-too-common corporate 

raider scheme in Russia. Facing violent extortion, financial ruin, 

and imprisonment, the Bitkovs sought refuge abroad. Using the 

services of what they believed to be a legitimate immigration firm, 

they received new identities from the Government of Guatemala 

and began a new life in Central America. A few years later, Kremlin agents tracked them down and colluded with the UN’s International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) to 

sentence them to nearly twenty years in prison. 

We know the lengths Russia’s kleptocracy will go to intimidate 

those who challenge its crimes. We remember the stories of Mikhail 

Khodorkovsky, whose successful company was expropriated and 

who spent 10 years in the Siberian gulag, and Sergei Magnitsky, 

who exposed corruption at the top of Russia’s government and was 

tortured and killed for doing so. In the case of the Bitkov family, 

the Kremlin agents persecuting the Bitkovs are sanctioned by the 

United States. In addition, the CICIG, a powerful and active participant in this gross miscarriage of justice, is funded in large part by 

the United States. 

We are right to ask: Why would agents from one of the world’s 

most ruthless kleptocracies join forces with an agency set up to 

combat corruption and impunity? Why would a UN institution receiving significant U.S. funding be so blind as to work with Vladimir Putin’s cronies when its mission is to help Guatemala move beyond the corruption and impunity that plague its society? In this 

whole tragic affair, did the Kremlin exert any undue influence on 

CICIG? 

Yesterday’s decision by Guatemala’s Constitutional Court in 

favor of the Bitkovs is a welcome step, but this family remains in 

jail. They should be freed immediately. And yet, unless they receive 

asylum in Guatemala or another county, the Bitkovs will remain 

in grave jeopardy of being returned to Russia, where their long 

nightmare will surely continue. 

I would like to note the role of one of our witnesses in bringing 

this case to our attention and to the attention of the American people. In 2009, Mr. Browder brought a similar case to the Helsinki 

Commission involving his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. At the time, 

Sergei was in pretrial detention in Moscow and being subjected to 

increasingly torturous conditions. My good friend Senator Ben 

Cardin chaired a hearing on Sergei’s case, and we worked to bring 

attention to his plight. 

However, Sergei died suddenly, having been locked in an isolation cell and beaten by prison guards when he needed urgent medCSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

29 

ical care. We must learn from this tragedy and not allow it to happen to the Bitkovs. 

I will be working closely with the White House, National Security Council, and State Department to ensure the safety of this 

family, and I am prepared to use all available policy options to help 

resolve this injustice. 

The case of the Bitkovs illustrates the Kremlin’s pattern of abuse 

involving the world’s courts and legal institutions. Russia should be 

called out for the mafia state it is and the illegitimate and politically influenced decisions that come out of Russian courts not given 

the time of day. We must find a way to protect our institutions 

from malign outsider influence and avoid becoming unwitting participants in Kremlin vendettas. 

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PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. MARCO RUBIO

Thank you Co-chair Smith for convening this important and 

timely hearing of the Helsinki Commission titled ‘‘The Long Arm 

of Injustice: Did a UN Commission Founded to Fight Corruption 

Help the Kremlin Destroy a Russian Family?’’ 

As I am unable to attend today’s hearing, I would like to submit 

a statement for the record on the mistreatment of the Bitkov family by the Russian Government and the apparent miscarriage of 

justice that has so far unfolded in Guatemala. 

In 2008, the Bitkovs had their business stolen by a Kremlin-associated bank—which is currently under U.S. sanctions—and were 

forced from their home in Russia after threats from the Putin regime and its cronies, just like so many other entrepreneurs over 

the past two decades. 

Having lost their business and their homeland, the Bitkovs fled 

to several countries before finally landing in Guatemala in hopes 

of a safe and secure future. But, in Putin’s Russia, merely stealing 

the Bitkovs livelihood wasn’t enough. The Kremlin and those associated with it have perpetrated an international campaign of aggression against the Bitkovs, pressuring the Guatemalan government—including troublingly, the Guatemalan judiciary—to prosecute the entire Bitkov family on potentially trump-up charges. 

Unfortunately for the rule of law in Guatemala, Moscow seemed 

to have found a willing partner in the International Commission on 

Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which was set-up through the 

auspices of the United Nations to prosecute official corruption and 

political intimidation, not participate in it. I am concerned that 

CICIG, a commission funded by the United States, had potentially 

been manipulated by radical elements and Russia’s campaign 

against the Bitkovs in Guatemala. And that this, in turn, may have 

led to the Bitkovs’ suspiciously long prison sentences for crimes 

that normally would be afforded administrative fines, if any penalty at all. 

Moreover, the conditions that the Bitkovs have endured during 

their incarceration have been deplorable, as they have suffered 

malnourishment, disease, and the separation of the family, including the placement of Igor and Irina’s youngest child in an orphanage against their expressed wishes. 

What all of this adds up to is Putin and his cronies apparently 

settling scores in the Western Hemisphere and undermining Guatemala’s anti-corruption watchdog. 

This miscarriage of justice cannot be tolerated and today’s hearing is a strong first step in bringing this matter to light. It is important for both Kremlin and Guatemalan officials to understand 

that the world sees what is happening and will not accept Russian 

malign influence in the Western Hemisphere or the destruction of 

Guatemalan judiciary. 

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I was pleased to learn that on Thursday, April 26th, the Bitkov 

family was granted a protection order by the Guatemalan Constitutional Court. 

I am confident that the Guatemalan government under the leadership of President Morales will ensure this family’s safety as they 

close this horrific chapter in their lives and begin a new journey 

away from the Kremlin’s international campaign of aggression 

against them. 

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PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES LANKFORD

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Commission, thank you for 

accepting my statement for the record as I regrettably could not attend today’s important hearing. I appreciate you and your staff’s 

hard work to bring these stories and facts to light. 

I want to focus on something that has for too long gone overlooked and without proper oversight from the U.S. Congress: the 

International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala’s 

(CICIG) expansion of authorities and prerogative beyond its mandate, and its level of effectiveness in building the capacity of Guatemala’s own judicial system. 

CICIG’s mandate clearly states that the entity was established 

to support the Government of Guatemala by investigating and disbanding illegal security forces and clandestine security structures 

operating in the country. According to the mandate, CICIG is also 

tasked with strengthening Guatemala’s own justice system so that 

an international body is no longer needed in the future. It appears 

that, after more than a decade of operation in the country, there 

is an unknown amount of progress in creating capacity for Guatemala’s own judicial system; if so, CICIG is faltering in its mission. 

Let me make clear that I support the intention and core mandate 

of CICIG to walk alongside Guatemala’s public prosecutors to tackle the devastating effects that armed drug traffickers and gangs 

have had and continue to have on Guatemalan society and economy. The influence of illicit narcotics is the primary catalyst for the 

region’s rampant crime and corruption, and the U.S. and international community should be a partner with the Guatemalan government in eliminating its malign influence. Yet we should be diligent in exercising oversight over any foreign entity which receives 

U.S. taxpayer funding to ensure our nation’s own resources are 

used to advance national interests. 

I applaud the Commission for looking into the issue of the Bitkov 

family as well as exercising oversight over the U.S.-funded CICIG. 

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PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL S. LEE

I am delighted my colleagues are holding this important hearing 

today, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share some 

thoughts and a statement on this important topic. It is truly unfortunate that it takes horrific events for us in America to stop and 

examine how our taxpayer dollars are being expended in support 

of supranational governance overseas in ways that wreak havoc 

and upend principles of sovereignty for others. My deepest sympathies are with the Bitkov Family today, and with all of those 

whose lives have been irreparably altered by egregious violations 

of law and order. 

The UN’s International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) is an unwieldy beast. All organizations, even those 

created with the best of intentions, must have proper oversight and 

accountability mechanisms built-in. While initially created to rootout corruption and uphold rule of law, CICIG both in principle and 

application has become an extrajudicial, partial and unfair arbiter 

in Guatemala. Since its inception in 2007, the U.S. has spent more 

than $44.5 million on CICIG. While our U.N. Ambassador Nikki 

Haley has called on the entity to remain intact, she has also called 

on the organization to be less overt and political, saying it should 

not be in the paper every day. Unfortunately, the continued conflicts of personalities between Guatemalan politicians and leadership of CICIG has kept many in deep conflict over various charges 

of corruption and challenges of leadership. No organization should 

be beholden to one man in the way at CICIG is intertwined with 

Commissioner Ivan Velasquez. An entity that is truly unbiased 

should continue its mission regardless of who is in charge. This is 

in part why we—and others who financially support CICIG—must 

increase oversight over this body, ensuring our funds are spent responsibly. CICIG should be operating to root-out real corruption, 

rather than building up or tearing down political winners and losers. It pains me to see sovereignty continually thrown by the wayside as has been the case in Guatemala. It is unfair to average citizens. It has been unfair to the Bitkovs. It is unfair to all who seek 

a free and prosperous Guatemala. 

Today I wish the CICIG never was established. I wish that we 

could have spent all these funds and all this time working yes on 

corruption issues, but also on transnational crime. Or on creating 

economic opportunity for both Guatemalans and Americans. Or on 

strengthen the actual government of Guatemala established by the 

people of Guatemala. As long as we keep using our resources to 

drive political wedges and undermine what freethinking human 

beings made in the image of God want their country to be, we will 

fail to seize the true opportunities for growth before us. 

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PREPARED STATEMENT OF BILL BROWDER

Co-Chairman Smith, Distinguished Members of the Helsinki 

Commission, 

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to present the story of 

the Russian Government’s persecution of the Bitkov family in Guatemala. 

As many of you know, I was the client of Sergei Magnitsky in 

Russia. When he was murdered by Russian Government officials 

for uncovering state corruption, I started a campaign for justice, 

which led to this Commission spearheading the Sergei Magnitsky 

Rule of Law Accountability Act in 2012, and the Global Magnitsky 

Act in 2016. 

I wrote about the Magnitsky justice campaign in a book, entitled 

‘‘Red Notice,’’ which was published in February 2015. Following the 

book’s publication, I have received messages from people all over 

the world telling me about their reactions to the Magnitsky case 

and sharing their own stories. 

One of those stories came from a Russian woman named Irina 

Bitkov. She described how she and her family had been persecuted 

in a similar way to Sergei Magnitsky in Russia and when they fled, 

their persecutors from the Russian Government chased them all 

the way to Guatemala and ruined their lives. 

I am here today to share the Bitkov’s story because they can’t be 

here to do it themselves. They are currently in a Guatemalan prison where Igor Bitkov (the father) is serving a nineteen-year prison 

sentence and Irina and Anastasia Bitkov (the mother and daughter) are serving fourteen-year prison sentences, all for ‘‘passport 

violations’’ in Guatemala. 

I’d like to point out that I have no business relationships with 

the Bitkovs. I am receiving no compensation for the advocacy I am 

doing on their behalf. I am entirely motivated by the shocking injustice of what has happened to them. 

This story starts in the 1990’s when Igor and Irina Bitkov became owners of a paper mill in Russia called the North West Timber Company. Over the course of the 1990’s, they built a highly 

successful business that reached $80 million in profits by 2007. It 

was apparently valued by the Russian state bank, Sberbank, at 

roughly US$400 million. 

In the course of its business, the company obtained loans from 

Russian state banks, including Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank 

in order to upgrade its facilities. Shortly after the loans were 

issued, the Bitkov’s problems began. 

One of the bankers involved in issuing the loan approached Igor 

Bitkov and asked Igor to sell 51 percent of the business to him personally for US$25 million. As the business was worth many times 

that, Igor refused. 

Following this unwanted take-over attempt, a terrible trauma befell the Bitkov family. The Bitkov’s then 16-year-old daughter 

Anastasia was kidnapped in St Petersburg. The kidnappers demanded a ransom, which took the Bitkovs 3 days to accumulate. 

They paid the kidnappers and Anastasia was released, but when 

she was safely back home, the family discovered that Anastasia 

had been drugged and repeatedly raped by her kidnappers. The orCSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

35 

deal left Anastasia deeply traumatised and set off a cascade of psychiatric ailments, which require medication and treatment to this 

day. 

Following that, and in a further escalation of the attempts to 

take over their company, the Russian state banks simultaneously 

called in the $158 million loans, forcing the company into bankruptcy. 

During the bankruptcy proceedings, the equipment of their factories was sold for a fraction of its true value. 

The Bitkovs were then told that they would be imminently arrested. This was the moment the Bitkov family fled Russia. They 

first travelled to Latvia, and then to Turkey. In Turkey, they 

sought out a country to settle in where they could avoid the risk 

of being sent back to Russia where they feared the worst. They 

chose Guatemala because it did not have an extradition treaty with 

Russia. 

They found an advertisement on the Internet from a Latin American law firm called Cutino Associates that specialised in immigration law and advertised its expertise in organizing Guatemalan immigration for US$50,000 per person. The family engaged Cutino 

and began the process of becoming immigrants to Guatemala. 

In their initial communications with the Cutino law firm, they 

explained that the reason for their immigration was to avoid persecution from Russia. 

Cutino explained to them that they could change their names in 

their immigration applications to avoid detection by the Russians. 

Cutino then submitted applications for the family and the Guatemalan migration service issued them new documents in new 

names. Anastasia kept her original name hoping that because she 

was not targeted with Russian criminal cases she would be ok to 

keep it. 

The family then began a new life in Guatemala. Igor became a 

high school math teacher at the Brillo De Sol School in Antigua, 

Guatemala. Irina became a drawing teacher at the same school, 

and Anastasia, who was beginning to regain her confidence after 

her terrible trauma in Russia, began a career in fashion. 

In January 2012, Irina Bitkov gave birth to a baby boy named 

Vladimir. 

It appeared that after their terrible ordeal in Russia where the 

family had lost nearly everything, they could begin a new chapter 

in their lives. 

Unfortunately, their dream of a new life came crashing down in 

late 2013. 

Investigators working for VTB Bank tracked down the Bitkovs in 

Guatemala. The head of the VTB Bank, Andrey Kostin, personally 

hired Henry Comte, one of the most prestigious attorneys in Guatemala and an alternate judge on the Guatemalan Supreme Court, 

to assist VTB in pursuing the Bitkovs in Guatemala. 

VTB and Comte’s first attempt to go after the Bitkovs was to file 

a criminal complaint with the Attorney General’s Office of Guatemala claiming VTB had been defrauded by the Bitkovs in Russia. 

VTB presented photocopies of forged documents in the Guatemalan 

court. These documents had already been rejected as forgeries in 

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similar proceedings in the Russian courts. When the Guatemalan 

court requested the originals, VTB bank withdrew its application. 

VTB and Henry Comte then came up with a ‘plan B’ to go after 

the Bitkovs. For several years before 2013, there had been an ongoing investigation into human trafficking and Guatemalan officials’ 

complicity with human traffickers in the country. It was called the 

Migration Case and was supported by a U.N. organisation called 

CICIG whose mandate was to go after organised crime networks 

who previously enjoyed impunity in Guatemala. 

VTB and Comte successfully convinced CICIG to focus on the 

Bitkovs as part of the Migration Case in spite of the fact the 

Bitkovs were clearly not part of any organised network of traffickers. 

Inexplicably, VTB Bank gained the legal status as an ‘interested 

party’ in the Migration Case against the Bitkovs with the support 

of CICIG. In January 2015, a criminal case against the Bitkovs 

was opened at the direction of CICIG. Immediately after, 70 armed 

police officers raided the Bitkovs’ home, arrested Irina, Igor and 

Anastasia and detained them in cage behind the parking garage in 

the main court building in Guatemala City. 

While they were being held, Anastasia was deprived of her antidepression medications and she had a severe psychiatric breakdown. Anastasia and her mother were moved to a hospital under 

armed guard, and Igor was put into pre-trial detention at the 

Mariscal Zavala prison while the case awaited trial. 

The Bitkovs arranged for their family lawyer, Rolando Alvarado, 

to be a guardian for their 3-year-old child, Vladimir, while they 

were incarcerated. In spite of Mr. Alvarado’s valid guardianship papers, the Prosecutor of Guatemala filed a motion with the court 

calling for Vladimir Bitkov to be placed in a state orphanage instead. 

At this point, the Russian Government also got involved. Pavel 

Astakhov, the Russian government’s ombudsman for children’s 

rights, publicly called for Vladimir Bitkov to be returned to Russia 

to be put into a Russian orphanage. 

The Russian foray failed because Vladimir is only a Guatemalan 

citizen, not Russian, and could not be returned to Russia. However, 

the Guatemalan prosecutor’s motion succeeded and Vladimir was 

placed in a state orphanage. 

The family desperately applied to reverse the decision and get 

Vladimir out of the orphanage. It took 42 days for that application 

to be heard. When Vladimir finally emerged, he was examined by 

medical experts who found he had an upper respiratory infection; 

severe inflammation of the middle ear; conjunctivitis in both eyes; 

scars along the left eyebrow; and chipped front teeth. They concluded that he suffered from physical and psychological abuses in 

the orphanage. 

In the meantime, the case against the Bitkovs for passport violations moved through the courts, they were formally indicted as part 

of the CICIG Migration Case in April 2015. 

The Bitkov family appealed the indictment in the Appeals Court 

arguing that they were migrants and could not be subject to criminal prosecution applicable to traffickers. In December 2017, the 

Guatemalan Appeals Court ruled in favour of the Bitkovs declaring 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

37 

that any passport irregularities were administrative offences punishable by a fine and as migrants they should not be under criminal penalty. 

However, CICIG and VTB were not happy with this decision and 

both immediately filed appeals against that court decision that 

would have freed the Bitkovs. While their appeal was pending, the 

decision was not in force. 

A few days later on January 5, 2018, the Guatemalan District 

Court found Igor, Irina and Anastasia Bitkov guilty as users of the 

criminal network in the Migration Case. The court sentenced Igor 

to 19 years in prison, and Irina and Anastasia to 14 years. CICIG 

trumpeted their court victory on their website pointing out that 

they prosecuted 39 people from the criminal network, including the 

Bitkovs. 

I understand that the 19-year sentence that Igor Bitkov was 

given was greater than sentences for manslaughter, rape, burglary 

and fraud in Guatemala. The sentences that all three of them were 

given appears to exceed the sentences of many of the government 

officials in Guatemala and traffickers who were part of the human 

trafficking network. 

There was no evidence that the Bitkovs bribed any government 

official, or were involved in any corruption. 

The Bitkovs, who did not speak Spanish and did not know anyone in Guatemala on arrival, relied on the law firm, Cutino Associates who presented themselves as legitimate immigration lawyers. 

It also appears that nobody from Cutino Associates who 

organised their passports and settlement documents has ever been 

prosecuted. 

No other customers of Cutino appear to have been tried, convicted and sentenced like the Bitkovs. In the list presented by 

CICIG, which includes 39 people in the Migration Case, 36 were 

low and middle level officials from different Guatemalan governmental bodies and a few ‘coyotes’ who physically moved people 

through Guatemala. 

So, what’s going on here? 

There are two big Russian themes in this case, neither of which 

are unusual. 

First, in Russia people who run successful businesses are routinely victimised through a process called ‘Raiderstvo’. I was a victim of Raiderstvo and so were the Bitkovs. It is a standard practice 

in Russia where organized criminals work together with corrupt 

government officials to extract property and money from their victims. There are literally hundreds of thousands of businessmen in 

jail in Russia who are victims of this as well. 

The second theme is the abuse of international institutions. The 

Russian Government routinely abuses international institutions in 

order to persecute its enemies who are outside of Russia. 

In my case, the Russian Government tried six times to have 

Interpol arrest me after the Magnitsky Act was passed. The Russian Government also successfully recruited a senior official inside 

the Swiss Federal Police to stymie a Swiss criminal investigation 

into money laundering by Russian officials in the Magnitsky case. 

The Russian Government also succeeded in getting a Deputy Attorney General of Cyprus in charge of mutual legal assistance and exCSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

38 

tradition affecting the Magnitsky case, and many other politically 

sensitive cases, to inappropriately assist Russia in pursuing their 

enemies in Cyprus. 

In my opinion, the Russian Government succeeded in compromising CICIG and the Guatemalan Prosecutor for their own purposes in the Bitkov case. 

CICIG and the prosecutor’s office have jointly taken up the Russian government’s vendetta against the Bitkovs with no good explanation. 

CICIG did not distance itself from this Russian persecution. 

They’ve touted it on their website and they’ve actively tried to overturn the Bitkovs’ vindication by the Appeals Court. 

Nor has VTB tried to hide its role in this case. In spite of the 

fact that VTB obtained no financial recovery for their alleged financial dispute with the Bitkovs, they became an interested party in 

a case involving something that had nothing to do with them in 

order to vindictively punish Igor Bitkov and his entire family. 

In the Wall Street Journal on April 4, 2018, Igor Kostin, the 

Chairman of VTB, says: ‘‘VTB’s action relating to the Bitkov family 

is an example of standard procedure in resolving financial business 

disputes through the available legal channels.’’ 

This is an appalling case in which the Bitkov family deserves 

justice and the United States has an opportunity to deliver them 

justice. 

CICIG is a U.N. organisation in which approximately 50 percent 

of its budget comes from the US government. 

I do not believe that anyone in the US Congress or the US government ever envisaged that US tax dollars would be spent to support a Russian persecution of a family fleeing persecution in Guatemala. I would recommend that CICIG’s funding be suspended until 

this situation is resolved. 

When I began the process of advocating for the Bitkov family, I 

discovered that CICIG is a highly contentious issue in DC and 

around the world. There are some people who are pro-CICIG, there 

are others who are anti-CICIG. 

Up until 2 months ago, I had never heard of CICIG. I come into 

this case with no prejudices one way or another. I’ve gone where 

the evidence leads. So far, the evidence leads toward the conclusion 

about the involvement of this organisation in the Bitkov’s persecution. 

As journalists from the Wall Street Journal and other news organization have started to investigate, CICIG has avoided answering 

a number of direct questions about their role in the Bitkov case 

and their support of VTB. 

When CICIG was invited to give evidence to Congress, they declined claiming as a U.N. organization, it is not accountable to any 

institution in the United States. 

They can’t have it both ways. They can either be the heroic antiimpunity organisation that their mandate sets for them and not 

take on other country’s vendettas, or the situation at CICIG needs 

to be cleaned up. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

39 

Bill Browder is the founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, which was the investment adviser to the largest foreign 

investment fund in Russia until 2005, when Bill was denied entry 

to the country and declared a ‘‘threat to national security’’ as a result of his battle against corporate corruption. Following his expulsion, the Russian authorities raided his offices, seized Hermitage 

Fund’s investment companies and used them to steal $230 million 

of taxes that the companies had previously paid. When Browder’s 

lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, investigated the crime, he was arrested 

by the same officers he implicated, tortured for 358 days, and killed 

in custody at the age of 37 in November 2009. Since then, Browder 

has spent the last 5 years fighting for justice for Mr. Magnitsky. 

The Russian government exonerated and even promoted some of 

the officials involved so Browder took the case to America, where 

his campaigning led to the U.S. Congress adopting the ‘Sergei 

Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act’ in 2012, which imposed 

visa sanctions and asset freezes on those involved in the detention, 

ill-treatment and death of Sergei Magnitsky (as well as in other 

human rights abuses). This law was the first time the US sanctioned Russia in 35 years and became the model for all subsequent 

US sanctions against Russia. Browder is currently working to have 

similar legislation passed in Magnitsky’s name across the European Union. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

40 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF VICTORIA SANDOVAL

Good morning Co-Chairman Smith, Distinguished Members of 

the Helsinki Commission and to all the public present in this room, 

for me it is an honor to have been invited to this hearing as a witness to the Bitkov Case. 

My name is Victoria Sandoval, I am a lawyer and public notary 

and have worked on human rights and criminal law issues since 

2006. In January 2015 I started supporting the Bitkov family in 

their judicial case, both personally and professionally. 

Start of the relationship with the Bitkovs: 

I personally know the Bitkovs since they first came to live in the 

same condominium where I live, and because they have a son of 

the same age as my child. Irina Bitkov and I both took our babies 

to the same early stimulation course and it was there that we 

strengthened our friendship. I could see how Vladimir was growing. 

His parents were concerned to ensure that he would grow up 

knowing and loving his Russian culture, in fact, he spoke the Russian language better than Spanish, which he spoke with a noticeable Russian accent. 

They gave Vladimir a life full of care and love. Every day at 5 

o’clock in the afternoon the three of them, Igor, Irina and Vladimir 

would be seen together with their two dogs walking through the 

condominium. 

The raid: 

On Thursday, January 15th, 2015 in the early morning I could 

see a lot of police movement in the condominium and when I asked 

an employee why there was so much movement, he told me that 

CICIG was raiding the house of some Russians. 

The first thing I thought was that in the condominium there was 

another family of Russians because the ones I knew were very good 

people. However, when the guard told me the address of the house, 

I was surprised and went to see what it was all about. 

The blocks in the condominium are about 150 meters long, and 

the Bitkov house is at the far end of the block, and on both sides 

of the street I could see that it was full of official vehicles (General 

Prosecution Office, CICIG and National Civil Police). It was a very 

intimidating situation. It seemed to me as if they were pursuing 

them like dangerous criminals but I knew as their friend and an 

experienced criminal lawyer that they did not fit that profile. 

Closing of the house: 

On Friday the 16th January 2015 I was finally able to see the 

Bitkov’s house which had been locked up and was guarded by two 

police officers. 

Carceletas: 

I learned from the news that the Bitkovs had been taken into 

custody and transferred to the carceletas at the Court House, to 

the Juzgado de Turno de Guatemala. 

The carceletas are open cages located in the basement of the 

Court House building where by Constitutional order, people should 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

41 

not stay in the carceletas for more than 24 hours. The Bitkovs were 

kept in the carceletas for 5 days, Irina and Anastasia and 9 days 

Igor! The carceletas are very filthy places where the bathrooms are 

only cleaned very occasionally. The state does not provide those 

who are inside the carceletas with food or water. I was shocked 

that neither the Russian ambassador nor any of his representatives 

were concerned about the welfare of his fellow citizens. He never 

went to the carceletas to see if the Bitkovs needed food, water or 

anything else. He was not even the least bit concerned about 

Anastasia’s health. 

When the Bitkovs were taken into custody, the officials didn’t let 

Anastasia take her medication with her. She was very scared because her life depends on the regular intake of medication. Not 

having her medication with her caused Anastasia to have a severe 

breakdown. 

A Judge ordered that Anastasia and Irina be transferred to a private psychiatric hospital because Anastasia was suffering a psychiatric breakdown that put her life at risk, as was established by 

a forensic psychiatrist from the National Institute of Forensic 

Sciences of Guatemala. However, the Penitentiary System refused 

to transfer them, which led to the imposition of a habeas corpus in 

favor of Anastasia and Irina. 

After the inquiries of the judge who handled the habeas corpus, 

two guards of the Penitentiary System sent a report saying that 

the General Director and the sub director of operations told them 

that they, Anastasia and Irina, could not be transferred to the hospital. The two guards asking the General Director if they have permission or not to fulfill a Judge’s order is something very weird 

and unusual. 

According to a press statement the refusal was due to the fact 

that the Penitentiary System had no budget to pay for gasoline. 

Anastasia’s breakdown was getting worse and following the 

Judge’s decision to start a legal process for disobedience against 

the General Director and Subdirector of the Penitentiary System, 

the Penitentiary System accepted to transfer Anastasia and Irina, 

along with 50 Sistema Penitenciario Agents to the 10-room private 

mental health hospital Mederi. The hospital declined to accept 

Anastasia and Irina because so many guards could intimidate their 

other patients. Anastasia and Irina were returned to the court 

house. 

They were then transferred to an annex to the men’s part of a 

prison where Igor was being held. Anastasia and Irina were put 

into a fenced off area of the men’s prison. This area was only separated by a fence, which meant that Anastasia and Irina were not 

properly segregated from the male inmates who could clearly see 

them. Even more degrading for them was the fact that Anastasia 

and Irina were deprived of even the most basic right of privacy 

when using the bathroom which was also exposed to the male inmates. Anastasia and Irina would suffer daily humiliation of using 

the bathroom in full sight of the men inmates—many of whom 

were gang members. This was torture for them. 

On January 20th 2015, after remaining in the prison for five 

days, Anastasia and Irina were transferred to the Concepcio ́n Hospital, where they had to stay for a year under armed guard. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

42 

In Igor’s case, after the raid he was transferred to the prison 

where he was sharing the 2 × 6 meters cell with 30 to 40 other detainees, most of them being gang members who were extremely aggressive and high-conflict people. There was not enough space for 

all the detainees to sit down and even less space to sleep. Consequently, Igor was deprived of sleep for 9 days and was then 

taken in front of the Judge to give his first testimony. 

Igor’s First Testimony 

At his first hearing, Igor was completely dumbfounded, he had 

not been provided with a translator and it was obvious that his 

Spanish was not good at that time. 

CICIG’s attorney, Claudia Gonza ́lez Orellana clearly supported 

the participation of VTB by stating that the crimes committed in 

Russia should be investigated because they were related to those 

committed in Guatemala, despite the fact that later, she said that 

CICIG had no interest in whatever had happened in Russia. 

Likewise, CICIG’s Attorney said that Igor had illegally entered 

Guatemala arguing that he had no migrating record. This was completely misleading she asked for Igor Vladimirovich Bitcov record 

instead of Igor Vladimirovich Bitkov record. CICIG’s attorney also 

failed to mention that the Bitkovs entered Guatemala using their 

valid Russian passports so there can be no question that their 

entry was nothing other than legal. 

Judge Miguel A ́ ngel Ga ́lvez allowed VTB to be a provisional adhesive plaintiff arguing that it was important to know what had 

happened in Russia. This is despite the fact that the Russian Bank 

never presented any proof that the Bitkovs had committed any 

crime in Russia. Instead they presented photocopies of personal 

guarantees supposedly signed by the Bitkovs instead of originals, 

refusing to provide the originals for examination. 

House Stripping 

One of the Bitkov’s neighbors told us that he had seen a patrol 

car of the National Civil Police outside the Bitkovs’ house and that 

he had seen policemen carrying children’s toys, carts, tricycles from 

the house. So, the Bitkovs filed a complaint to investigate the theft, 

it was ratified and Veronica, Vladimir’s nanny also went to testify 

since she knew what the Bitkovs used to have and what had been 

stolen. 

No investigation was conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. 

In January 2016 the Judge in charge ordered the opening of the 

sealed house. The house had been completely looted. 

Acta de Haroldo Flores: 

In June of 2017 the Child Prosecutor of the Attorney General’s 

Office (Procuradurı ́a General de la Nacio ́n—PGN), Harold Augusto 

Flores Valenzuela, was arrested in the case of Hogar Seguro, 

Virgen de la Asuncio ́n. According to Igor, before Mr. Flores 

Valenzuela arrived at Mariscal Zavala, his lawyers went to talk 

with him to see what his attitude was with respect to Harold Flores after he had sent Igor’s 3-year-old son, Vladimir, to the ‘‘Love 

the Child’’ orphanage where Vladimir was abused. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

43 

Igor said that all he wanted was for Harold Flores to tell him 

why he had tortured Vladimir in the terrible way that he did. 

When Harold Flores was taken to Mariscal Zavala prison the 

first thing he did was to visit Igor and told him that he had been 

called by a CICIG official that told him that he had to do everything he could, so that the ‘‘son of the Russians’’ would be sent to 

an orphanage. After that he was visited by a woman who ratified 

that order. He would not tell Igor this woman’s name because he 

feared for his life. So even though he saw that the reports on Vladimir’s guardians were just fine he ignored them and asked Judge 

Marı ́a Belen Reyna Salazar to send Vladimir to that infamous orphanage. Flores also told Igor that Judge Reyna Salazar received 

the same orders from CICIG. As a proof of what he said, he wrote 

down his name and phone number. 

Power of Attorney to Henry Phillipe Comte Velasquez 

VTB Bank was represented in Guatemala by its agent Henry 

Phillip Comte Velasquez who is a founding partner of the Law 

Firm Comte & Font—Legalsa. 

Henry P Comte is an alternative Judge of the Constitutional 

Court. This is the same court where is pending the ruling at the 

Bitkovs ‘‘amparo’’ appeal (Constitutional appeal) against the indictment stating that any passport irregularities are administrative 

offences punishable by a fine. VTB/CICIG appealed that decision in 

the Constitutional Court. 

Curiously, the Power of Attorney given by VTB to Henry Phillip 

Comte Velasquez to act for VTB was signed by the President of the 

Board of Directors of VTB Bank, Andrey Kostin, himself, and not 

by the head of the legal department, as is normally happens with 

any Bank. 

This mandate was granted to Henry Phillip Comte Velasquez 

with ‘‘Reserve of exercise’’ that is to say that he can delegate it to 

another lawyer of the Law Firm Comte & Font—Legalsa and his 

law firm still continues to exercise the powers granted under it. 

Anastasia’s illness 

Anastasia has been diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder, 

Borderline Syndrome according to the psychiatric reports of the 

National Institute of Forensic Sciences of Guatemala. Her psychiatric disorders were triggered by her kidnapping in Russia in 

which she was repeatedly raped and drugged. 

As a result of her illness, Anastasia has attempted suicide five 

times. 

While at the Hospital Concepcio ́n she suffered several crises due 

to the harassment of the National Civil Police agents who were 

guarding them. She was also greatly affected by the fact that Judge 

Marı ́a Bele ́n Reyna Salazar had sent her little brother to an orphanage and also that Judge Carol Patricia Flores Polanco sent 

several forensic psychiatrists to determine whether she had to stay 

at the hospital or whether she could be sent to the jail of Santa 

Teresa. 

The National Institute of Forensic Sciences ruled that Anastasia 

should not be sent to a prison because it could cause her to make 

further attempts to commit suicide. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

44 

1 https://www.bing.com/ videos/search?q=hospital+psiquiatrico+federico+mora+bbc&&view= 

detail&mid=C8314C4E3EFF3B347152C8314C4E3EFF3B347152&&FORM=VRDGAR; https:// 

www.bing.com/videos/search?q=hospitalde+salud+mental+federico+mora+bbc&&view= 

detail&mid=F15517CDCB9A2C709187F15517CDCB9A2C709 187&&FORM=VRDGAR 

Ignoring this, the President for the Tribunal de Sentencia, Judge 

Iris Yassmin Barrios Aguilar ordered to send her to the Mariscal 

Zavala prison for 14 years. 

Currently she is under a lot of emotional pressure because she 

has been threatened by Judge Iris Yasmı ́n Barrios Aguilar and by 

the warden of the Women’s section of Mariscal Zavala to be transferred to the Federico Mora Psychiatric Hospital if she shows any 

sign of her illness (that triggers her anxiety). 

A few days after Anastasia was sent to prison, the President of 

the Tribunal de Sentencia ordered that Anastasia be evaluated by 

the National Institute of Forensic Sciences of Guatemala to determine whether it was necessary or not to send her to the Federico 

Mora National Mental Health Hospital, named as the worst in the 

world by the BBC. 1

Similar Cases: 

In Guatemala, the Palermo Convention is in force, as well as the 

Guatemalan Migration Law. Both laws establish that migrants 

cannot be criminalized for the possession or use of travel documents or ID documents. Even so, the State of Guatemala has decided to prosecute, illegally, these cases and has issued suspended 

sentences in other similar cases. I list below the most relevant: 

A verdict was issued by the same court that sentenced the Bitkovs 

to penalties of 19 and 14 years in prison and expulsion from the 

country. The same 3 judges, in February 2018, that is, one month 

after they imposed custodial sentences on the Bitkovs, sentenced 2 

members of the dangerous and notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) gang to conmutable prison sentences of 5 years. Mr. Israel Antonio Cabrera Luna, whose alias is ‘‘el demonio’’ (the demon) and 

Mauricio Antonio Rivas Herna ́ndez, whose alias is ‘‘goat’’ or 

‘‘patoja,’’ were of Salvadorian nationality. These MS-13 gang members were not expelled from the country, unlike the Bitkovs. These 

MS-13 gang members did not cooperate at the investigation. 

(* judgment Mara Salvatrucha process 

C-01031-2017-00005). 

CICIG, in its statement number 042—2013 indicates that 2 Colombians were convicted, for similar acts as the Bitkovs, but they only 

got 3 years suspended prison sentences and expulsion to their 

country of origin. 

The case of Marcela Ortega Bejarano. She was a witness proposed 

by the General Prosecution Office who described the way the mafia 

operated within the General Directorate of Migration and within 

the National Registry of Persons (Civil Registry). In her testimony 

she recounts the way in which the documents were delivered, 

which is the same process by which the Bitkovs received their documents. She was also only given a 5 year suspended prison sentence and was expelled to her country of origin. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

45 

2 https://web.archive.org/web/20090831041337/http://www.cutinointernational.com:80/ 

Refugee Status: 

It is important to clarify that the Bitkov Family had not requested asylum upon entry into Guatemala. They hired Cutino Associates International assuming that the Law Firm that would take 

care of all the legal procedures required to obtain Guatemalan citizenship. Cutino Associates International also advised them to 

change their names in order to avoid any persecution by the Russian Federation in Guatemala. The advice provided by Cutino Associates International made the Bitkov family think that their documents were absolutely legal so they did not need to request asylum 

or refugee status. They found Cutino Associates International via 

the internet. 2

In February 2015, the Bitkovs filed the asylum application with 

the General Directorate of Immigration. The lawyer who made the 

filing told the Bitkovs that they had to appear personally to sign 

the initial request in front of the migration officer. 

Authorization was requested to Judge Carol Patricia Flores 

Polanco, to give them permission to go to sign the request for asylum, however, the Judge denied their request. 

This caused a delay in the filing of the asylum application. The 

Directorate General of Migration had offered to go to the Hospital 

and to Mariscal Zavala to obtain these signatures, however, they 

later retracted their offer. 

Finally, the authorization was given to the Bitkov’s lawyers to 

obtain the signatures directly from the Bitkovs and the application 

for asylum was filed on July 23, 2015. The application for asylum 

was refused on 23 November 2016. The decision was notified to the 

Bitkovs on February 2017 so they appealed it before the General 

Secretariat of the Presidency on February 16, 2017 and is currently 

pending. 

Russian Embassy: 

Irina and Anastasia were first approached by the Russian Embassy in Guatemala when they were in hospital. The officials from 

the embassy asked Irina to allow Vladimir to be given Russian citizenship. She refused. The only reason that the Russian Embassy 

sought Russian citizenship for Vladimir was to enable them to take 

Vladimir back to Russia and put him in an orphanage. 

Call to justice: 

The evil with which this case has been handled is shocking. The 

Kremlin, through VTB bank has conspired with the Guatemalan 

justice system to (i) separate a 3-year-old boy from his family and 

send him to an orphanage where he was tortured (ii) to lock up in 

a prison a young woman with psychiatric disorders and finally (iii) 

condemn with ridiculous punishments a family who went to Guatemala in order to flee Russian persecution that was threatening to 

destroy their lives in contravention of Palermo Convention, Guatemalan Migration Law and an Order from the Constitutional Court. 

Anastasia told me once: I have suffered a lot, my life has never 

been even close to normal. I want to fight so my little brother can 

have a normal life, he still has time. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

46 

Victoria Sandoval is a criminal and human rights attorney representing the Bitkov family. She is a lawyer and notary from the 

Francisco Marroquφn University, with 15 years of experience in different areas of the Law, among them Corporative, Notarial, Labor, 

Criminal, and Human Rights. Ms. Sandoval has worked providing 

technical advice to the Supreme Court of Justice of Guatemala regarding the Juzgados Penales de Turno. She is the founder of the 

Asociaciθn Guatemalteca de Espina Bφfida and former board member of the International Federation for Hydrocephalus and Spina 

Bifida. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

47 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ROLANDO ALVARADO

Good morning Co-Chairman Smith, Distinguished Members of 

the Helsinki Commission and to all the public present in this room, 

for me it is an honor to have been invited to this hearing as a witness to the Bitkov Case. 

I’m a lawyer who specialises in banking matters as well as cyber 

and economic crimes. I first came across the Bitkov family 2 years 

before their arrests when I initially met Irina and Anastasia 

Bitkov. They set up a small film company in Guatemala and I registered the copyrights of the material they produced. Since then, I 

have become a close friend to the family and I am in fact the legal 

guardian of Vladimir Bitkov, Igor and Irina’s son, who is now 6 

years old. 

First, I would like to address the actions for which the Bitkov 

family have been accused of. The Bitkovs were criminally charged 

for using identity documents and passports issued by the State of 

Guatemala. The International Commission against Impunity in 

Guatemala (CICIG) and the General Prosecution Office argued that 

these documents were issued illegally. 

As a consequence, CICIG and the General Prosecution Office initiated a criminal prosecution, notoriously disproportionate and 

even more aggressive and shocking than high-impact crimes such 

as drug trafficking, murder or even terrorism. They channelled 

their criminal prosecution before special courts that know of crimes 

of greater risk. All this for what in reality constitutes a lack of migratory rights. 

CICIG has no right to participate as a complainant against the 

Bitkovs, since the mandate granted by the United Nations and the 

Government of Guatemala, establishes that the Commission has jurisdiction only to investigate crimes committed by members of the 

illegal security forces and the clandestine security apparatuses. 

The Bitkov family was not accused of being part of these illegal security forces and therefore does not fit into the functions entrusted 

to CICIG. This implies that CICIG exceeded its legal powers and 

abused its authority. 

In addition to violating its agreement, CICIG also violated the 

Palermo Convention. The Bitkovs were accused of using false identity documents and passports, however in accordance with the Palermo Convention—of which the State of Guatemala has signed 

and ratified—as migrants the Bitkovs are clearly exempt of criminal responsibility as well as exempt from criminal liability under 

the Migration Law of Guatemala. 

The actions for which the Bitkovs have been accused of do not 

even constitute a crime. 

Now allow me to set out a timeline: 

On January 15th 2015, CICIG and the General Prosecution Office with the support of the National Civil Police, conducted three 

raids. One in the family home, another in the Bitkov’s office located 

10km from their home and the third in the house of Anastasia’s 

boyfriend, Mr. Andre ́s Avelar. 

On January 15th 2015, I witnessed the search being carried out 

at the Bitkov’s family home. This raid was documented in the minutes of January 15th 2015. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

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The search began at 6 o’clock am. The prosecutors did not allow 

the Bitkovs to call their lawyer until 9 o’clock am, 3 hours after the 

search began. For that reason, I showed up at the house at around 

10 o’clock am. Upon my arrival, the Bitkov family felt extremely 

tormented, annoyed and helpless. They told me that the police entered the home whilst they were sleeping and did not leave the 

bedrooms for them to get dressed freely. Igor was forced to cover 

up his wife Irina and his daughter Anastasia so that they could get 

dressed. 

The search lasted a total of 20 hours, as it ended at 1:40 am the 

next day. All this is confirmed in the document that contains the 

tally sheet. During the 20 hour raid, the entire family was placed 

in the living room. 

There was an excessive amount of public force as the house was 

invaded by dozens of police officers. The operation was carried out 

jointly with CICIG personnel and the General Prosecution Office. 

This excessive use of public force cannot be justified in any way. 

The crime investigated—the use of supposedly false documents—is 

not high risk nor does it constitute a crime. Whilst the raid was 

carried out I asked the prosecutor Stuart Ernesto Campo Aguilar 

the reason as to why there were so many policemen. He told me 

that it originated from the million dollar fraud case committed by 

the Bitkovs against a Russian bank. This bank was in fact managing the criminal process against the Bitkov family. 

During the raid, Anastasia panicked and fainted. Vladimir was 

also very scared to see so many heavily armed policemen inside of 

their house. 

The prosecutors and police seized: the family’s vehicles, their 

jewellery and electronic devices, although they had no connection 

with the crime that was being investigated. Prosecutors indicated 

that any request for the return of these personal belongings had to 

be made before a judge. Concerning the jewellery, half was taken 

during the raid and the other half was left at the house. 

At the same time, two more raids were carried out, at their office 

and at Anastasia’s boyfriend’s house. A large number of police officers were also present. These raids were also not justified since the 

crime the Bitkovs were accused of was the use of identity documents. 

Once the raids had come to an end, 20 hours later the prosecutors and the police proceeded to execute the arrest warrants 

against the family in the early hours of the following day. Igor, 

Irina and Anastasia were handcuffed. Vladimir who was only 3 

years old at the time was woken up by the police. I asked the prosecutors and the police officers not to wake the child because he 

would be frightened but they ignored my request and continued. 

After the Bitkov family was arrested, prosecutors indicated that 

the child would be transferred to an orphanage, however he first 

had to be transferred to court so that a judge could define his legal 

situation. They put him in a grey car belonging to the Attorney 

General’s Office. They wanted to bring him alone but I requested 

that his nanny Mrs. Veronica Gonzales accompany him. She quickly prepared a suitcase with clothes and they both got in the car. 

I myself followed the car in my vehicle. Igor and Irina—anguished 

by their son’s situation—begged me not to leave Vladimir seeing as 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

49 

they did not know anyone trustworthy which could take care of 

their son. They asked me to make sure that he would not go to an 

orphanage. 

Having arrived at the court located 25 km from the Bitkov’s 

home at around 3 o’clock am in the morning, we hoped that the 

judge on duty would attend to us. We waited 2 hours as other cases 

were being processed. Before the hearing at around 5.30 am, I 

asked the psychologist and social worker at the court to interview 

Vladimir and to determine whether he had a close bond with his 

nanny Veronica Gonzalez. Vladimir did not want to be separated 

from her and the court staff easily determined that the child had 

a close and affectionate bond with his nanny. 

The judge on duty, Attorney Marjorie Rene Azpuru Villela agreed 

with the court staff regarding the child’s emotional bond with 

Veronica. Before handing over Vladimir, the judge asked me if as 

a lawyer I was committed to providing financial support—such as 

clothing, food, education expenses etc.—for Vladimir while his parents’ situation was being resolved. I replied saying yes. Veronica 

and I were given joint custody of Vladimir. In order not to victimize 

him even more, we arranged for Veronica to move into my house 

seeing as the Bitkov’s property was seized and closed off. Vladimir 

was basically left homeless and without his family, only in the company of Veronica and myself. The official date that Vladimir was 

given to us (his guardians) was January 16th 2015. 

Following Vladimir and Veronica moving into my home, we received a phone call from the Attorney General’s Office, which deals 

with cases related to children in Guatemala. We were summoned 

so that psychological evaluations could be done on Vladimir and financial checks could be conducted on me and Veronica. The psychological evaluations were very positive. Vladimir clearly told the 

psychologist, Sheila Ninette Santiago Lopez, that it was his desire 

to be with Veronica. He said: ‘‘She takes care of me and gives me 

my feeding bottle’’. This is stated in the judgment of March 18th 

2015 of the Court of Appeals for Children. 

Although the psychological evaluations showed an affectionate 

bond between Vladimir and his nanny, we were summoned by another judge, Maria Belen Reyna Salazar. She told us that we had 

to attend court with Vladimir on February 10th 2015 (almost a 

month after Vladimir had been living with us). On February 10th 

we presented ourselves with the child. We had a detailed report 

which showed that the child was well taken care of in terms of 

housing, education and food. We attached photographs, details of 

his diet and other important aspects. Although the psychological 

evaluations—which were conducted by the Attorney General’s Office—were very positive, Judge Maria Belen Reyna Salazar, without asking the child’s opinion (which is a serious abuse as the law 

obliges the child to be heard), arranged to separate him from us, 

arguing that we were not his relatives and there was doubt on who 

his parents were due to their passports and identity documents 

being the subject of a criminal investigation. The doubt surrounding the identity of Vladimir arose from a report that was sent 

by the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI) indicating that his identity was flawed. FECI is part of the General 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

50 

Prosecutions Office that investigates all cases which CICIG participates in. 

During the hearing on February 10 2015, the judge ordered the 

child, Vladimir Bitkov to be moved to a special room for abandoned 

children. Vladimir cried out loud but the judge insisted on moving 

him away from us. 

The judge decided to immediately separate Vladimir from me 

and his nanny despite being his legal guardians. Veronica tried to 

leave his feeding bottle but they did not take it stating that they 

already had the essentials for the child. They did not let us say 

goodbye to Vladimir, they only told us that after crying he had fallen asleep deeply. So when Vladimir woke up he was already with 

total strangers in an orphanage called ‘‘Love of the Child’’ that is 

located in the interior of the country. The judge forbade us, his 

guardians and anyone else to visit Vladimir at the orphanage, arguing that it was for ‘‘his safety.’’ The day in which this separation 

took place was extremely shocking for us, and I do not want to 

imagine how shocking it was for Vladimir to wake up in an orphanage with strangers. From that day a very strong legal battle began, 

we fought to recover Vladimir. Following 42 days in the orphanage, 

a Child Appeals Chamber declared that the act of Judge Marφa 

Bele ́n Reyna Salazar had been illegal and ordered the child to return with his guardians. 

The day he left the orphanage, he was delivered to us in court. 

Vladimir looked very scared and did not speak with us. We travelled 20 kilometers he only spoke once to ask to go to the bathroom. We made our way to the hospital where his mother and sister were being kept. When Vladimir saw his mother you could tell 

he was extremely upset. He did not speak to her either. When he 

asked for food we bought him pizza. We found it very disturbing 

that Vladimir put a number of pieces of pizza inside his shirt, as 

if he was saving food. This made us think that he had gone hungry 

in the orphanage and was not fed properly. We then discovered he 

had a chipped tooth and an infection in both his eyes. We asked 

the doctor to give him a medical examination in which he later on 

stated that Vladimir had a scar on his eyebrow, chipped front 

teeth, conjunctivitis, an upper respiratory infection, severe inflammation of his ear and had clearly suffered from physical and psychological abuse. After returning from the orphanage Vladimir was 

another child, he no longer used his feeding bottle, he did not 

speak to anyone and he wanted to be alone. Prior to this, he was 

an outgoing, happy and social child and when he returned he was 

remote and introverted. He was clearly still afraid. Support was 

sought from a psychologist to give him therapy for several months. 

Many nights Vladimir woke up crying, with a face of fear, and anguish. 

Because of the way Vladimir left the orphanage, we filed a complaint with the Human Rights Ombudsman. It is clear that Judge 

Marı ́a Bele ́n Reyna Salazar committed an illegal verdict as there 

was no legal and moral justification for Vladimir being sent to an 

orphanage. The Human Rights Ombudsman of Guatemala issued a 

resolution on February 8, 2016 where he stated that Vladimir’s 

rights were clearly violated by the judge and the director of the orphanage, ‘‘Love of the Child’’. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

51 

When leaving the orphanage Vladimir and Veronica were in my 

residence for almost a year. On the 15th January 2016 Irina and 

Anastasia were granted house arrest and were able to leave the 

hospital where they were held for 1 year. Vladimir returned home 

with his mother, his sister and his nanny. 

I would now like to testify about the illegalities that arose in the 

criminal process. 

I will start with the action of VTB Bank: 

From the beginning of the process, VTB bank justified its participation in the process by claiming that the Bitkovs had committed 

fraud against the bank. The participation of VTB bank was always 

supported and defended by CICIG through its representative Claudia Gonza ́lez Orellana, who declared before the judge that the 

events that occurred in Russia were related to the events that occurred in Guatemala and that VTB bank should be allowed to defend its interests in Guatemala. An audio recording of the hearing 

which took place on January 22d 2015 is available. 

Prior to presenting the accusations, that is, the pre-hearing procedure where the sentence is handed down, the main judge was informed of two fundamental points: (i) That the Bitkov family are 

migrants and that the actions for which they are accused of does 

not constitute a crime under the Palermo Convention (signed by 

Guatemala). Furthermore, (ii) under Guatemala’s own Migration 

Law, it states that no migrant may be prosecuted criminally for obtaining false identity documents. These rules state that the criminal subject is not the migrant since the only responsible criminal 

is the trafficker, which in the case of the Bitkovs was Cutino Associates International. Cutino Associates International is a large immigration law firm in Guatemala and Latin America which has 

never been investigated by CICIG even though the Bitkov family 

filed a number of criminal complaints against them. CICIG and the 

General Prosecution Office have a clear knowledge of these complaints. 

In addition, Igor Bitkov filed a complaint in May 2016 against 

Cutino Associates International addressed directly to the Attorney 

General of the Republic of Guatemala, Mrs. Thelma Aldana. 

Several days later, on the 18th May 2016, Irina Bitkov filed another complaint with the Attorney General. The accusations 

against Cutino Associates International have never been investigated, although Irina Bitkova specifically stated them in her complaint. She provided the telephone numbers that appear on Cutino 

Associates International’s website and asked that the IP addresses, 

the entry logs to the site and the name of the person who acquired 

the domain on the internet be investigated as well as setting out 

other useful means of investigation for that case. In spite of this, 

no meaningful investigation was conducted. 

Igor Bitkov also specifically stated that he made a wire transfer 

to Cutino Associates International and later on requested CICIG to 

investigate and trace this bank transfer, which they failed to do. 

Instead of investigating the real perpetrators, CICIG accused the 

true victims of this crime. 

In addition to the two complaints filed with the Attorney General 

against the company that processed the identity documents for the 

Bitkovs—that is, Cutino Associates International—Irina Bitkov reCSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

52 

ported these facts directly to the Commissioner Iva ́n Vela ́squez 

Go ́mez on the 18th May 2017. In addition, we have a video where 

it was clearly recorded that Irina Bitkov personally spoke with Mr. 

Iva ́n Vela ́squez. She gave him documents which demonstrated the 

political persecution by the Russian Government which they were 

victims of, and which had to be investigated. The Bitkovs also denounced that the CICIG representative repeated word for word the 

infringed complaint of VTB bank without having any proof. Commissioner Vela ́squez said he would review the case but did nothing 

about it. CICIG never investigated Cutino Associates International 

nor ceased to support it. 

Additionally, Igor Bitkov gave power of attorney to a lawyer from 

Cutino Associates International—named Mr. Edwin Orlando 

Xitumul Herna ́ndez—to conduct all necessary action in order for 

the Bitkovs to receive passports. This power of attorney constitutes 

further evidence that Cutino Associates International was given 

authority to do whatever was required by law to obtain passports. 

CICIG should have investigated the criminal structure that is 

Cutino Associates International, however an investigation was 

never opened. 

The defense’s other argument during the trial was that VTB 

bank should be excluded from the criminal proceedings since the 

claim for payment of a supposed debt is not a criminal matter. In 

addition, there was no proof of the existence of such debt to begin 

with. 

The Bitkovs asked a Civil Court to require VTB Bank to present 

the original bail document that constituted the main document of 

its complaint. VTB Bank refused to provide to the Court any documents to support their complaints, arguing that the Guatemalan 

Courts did not have jurisdiction to see the claim. However, Judge 

Ericka Aifa ́n, at the request of CICIG and the General Prosecution 

Office, rejected the defense’s arguments and proceeded with hearings against the Bitkovs. The other defendants in the case were effectively officials and state employees who formed the criminal 

structure. The Bitkovs were the only migrants in this case. 

During the hearing, the senior official of the passport office declared that thousands of passports were issued with irregularities. 

In addition, the witness Carlos Rene ́ Go ́mez Dı ́az, stated that the 

General Directorate of Immigration issued between 1 and 3 passports with irregularities per week in favor of foreigners. However, 

only the Bitkovs were sentenced to prison. Other foreigners were 

sentenced to suspended sentences meaning that instead of going to 

jail they had to pay a fine and return freely to their country of origin. 

Another illegality that arose during the criminal process was 

that prior to the sentencing of the Bitkov family—during the hearing—a higher constitutional court granted an order in favor of the 

Bitkovs, whose ruling stated that the migrants could not be prosecuted criminally in accordance with the provisions of the Palermo 

Convention and the Migration Law of Guatemala. However, the 

Court chaired by Judge Yassmı ́n Barrios did not comply with that 

court order and continued the hearing which later sentenced the 

Bitkov family with extraordinary and illegal penalties. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

53 

The court that sentenced the Bitkovs, in addition to applying the 

maximum prison sentences, ordered the deportation of the Bitkov 

family from the country, even though we indicated that their lives 

are in danger if they are expelled back to Russia. In addition, on 

the day of the conviction, that is, on January 5, 2018, the Court 

revoked the house arrest of Irina and Anastasia, and they were at 

once again sent to prison that same night. In addition, I told Judge 

Yassmı ́n Barrios that Anastasia Bitkova suffered from a psychiatric illness and had five documented suicide attempts, and that 

there are reports from forensic psychiatrists in Guatemala that she 

cannot be imprisoned because there is a risk of death. This did not 

matter to the Court and she was sent to prison together with her 

mother. In addition, the Court did not take into consideration the 

best interests of the child Vladimir Bitkov and ordered a second 

separation from his family. 

On the day of the conviction Irina and Anastasia were remitted 

to the court jail. That day, January 5, 2018 was one of the coldest 

days in Guatemala. Together with Attorney Victoria Sandoval and 

myself, they did not let us bring them clothes despite the intense 

cold. We had to enter and leave our own clothes so that they had 

a little heat, since they were shivering from the cold. We filed an 

immediate complaint against the police for their inhuman actions 

which was only taken into consideration days later and eventually 

ignored. 

The above is what I have to say in this brief, in relation to the 

case of the Bitkov family. The family at this moment is suffering 

because they are facing illegal sentences that were imposed by 

CICIG and the General Prosecution Office. 

Rolando Alvarado is the founding partner of the law firm 

Corpolegal. He is currently the director of the judicial area, which 

includes civil, criminal, administrative, and labor litigation. He is 

a lawyer of Banco Internacional, Sociedad Ano ́nima y Financiera 

MVA, Sociedad Ano ́nima, where he knows all the matters of judicial claim in civil and criminal matters. 

He is an expert in Cybernetic matters, such as cyber-attacks, 

electronic signature, electronic evidence, IT laws. He has participated as a member of the Drafting Commission of the Guatemalan 

Computer Crimes Act and the Law to prevent and punish the theft 

of cell phones and extortion, among other regulatory Acts. In the 

field of Cybercrime and large scale Internet crime investigation, he 

has been trained by the Department of Justice of the United States 

of America in collaboration with the Organization of American 

States (OAS). 

Due to his experience as a member of the Drafting Commission 

of the Computer Crimes Act, he has been invited as a lecturer at 

the following institutions: (a) The National Council of Science and 

Technology (CONCYT); (b) The Legislation and Constitutional 

Points Commission of the Congress of Republic of Guatemala; (c) 

The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Guatemala; (d) Computer Security Response Committee for Guatemala; (e) Guatemalan 

Association of Exporters (AGEXPORT); (f) The Registry School, 

among other institutions. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

54 

He is co-author, together with the General Coordinator of the 

Computer Security Response Committee for Guatemala, Lieutenant 

Colonel and Bachelor of Computer Science, Ronald Morales, of the 

book called ‘‘CIBERCRIMEN,’’ which includes the legal and computer aspects related to cybernetic attacks, computer crimes, electronic evidence and research aids, national and international legislation on cybercrime. 

As a university professor, at bachelor and post-graduate level, he 

has taught the courses of: (a) Civil Law; (b) Civil and Commercial 

Procedural Law; (c) Intellectual Property; and, (d) Corporate law. 

He has advised theses at the University of San Carlos de Guatemala, Mariano Ga ́lvez University and Francisco Marroquı ́n University. Also, he has been a member of the examination boards of the 

professional technical and thesis exam at the Mariano Ga ́lvez University in Guatemala and at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala. 

As a legal professional, he has held the following positions: (a) 

Director of the Judicial Area of the law firm ‘‘Aguilar & Zarcen ̃ o’’; 

(b) Advisor in the Legislation and Constitutional Points Committee 

of the Congress of the Republic; (c) Alternate Chief of the Legal Department of Banco de Exportacio ́n, S.A. (BANEX); among others. 

CSCE18-11 with DISTILLER

(55) 

M A T E R I A L F O R 

T H E R E C O R D 

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30032.001

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe 

April27, 2018 Hearing 

"The Long Ann of Injustice: Did A UN Commission Founded To Fight Corruption Help The 

Kremlin Destroy A Russian Family?" 

WILLIAM BROWDER 

(CEO HERMITAGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT & LEADER OF THE MAGNITSKY 

CAMPAIGN), 

ANSWERS 

TO REP. JAMES P. MCGOVERN (MA) QUESTIONS 

FOR THE RECORD 

May 9, 2018 

Dear Co-Chairman Smith, 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify at the hearing on, "The Long of Injustice: Did A UN 

Commission Founded To Fight Cormption Help The Kremlin Destroy a Russian Family?" on April 

27,2018. 

I am providing answers to follow-up questions submitted by Rep. James P. McGovern. 

Tbe question that was asked was: -

1. You have publicly stated that "CICIG worked together with VTB Bank to persecute the 

Bitkovs. "Are you in possession of material evidence to substantiate your allegation? 

In response to this question, I have prepared a timeline that shows the overall Russian persecution of 

the Bitkov family- which is attached. Within this timeline there are six specific pieces of evidence 

that show that CICIG worked together with VTB Bank to persecute the Bitkov family. 

• November 13,2014 

VTB complaint against the Bitkovs is accepted by CICIG 

"At the hearing, Judge Galvez decided to join the process with the VTB Bank "1 

• January21,2015 

VTB issued a press statement praising "the coordinated actions of VTB Bank and C/CIG", 

which led to the detention of the Bitkov': 

"Thanks to the coordinated actions by VTB Bank and CICIG in Guatemala Igor and Irina Bitkov 

have been detained. "2 

• January 22, 2015 

CICIG argued in Court for VTB to be allowed to join the proceedings against the Bitkovs 
57 

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30032.002

CIC!G's Attorney: Gonz:Hez Orellana Intervention in court: 

"In first place, Mr . .Judge, the Attorney representing the VTB Bank, actually has a derivative 

competence ji-om events that actually occurred in Russia, and that they, following up on those 

events occurred in Russia, the people who are avoiding justice in that count1y came to 

Guatemala, and committed other crimes. and none o.f'those o.tfimses can be left in impunity. 

"The fact that they are, now, represented as aggrieved. Having and presenting in this hearing 

the civil capacity of the VTB Bank over its rights that were violated for the crimes committed in 

the country of Russia, gives them the competence· that thev present their selves as temporary cocomplainants in the present case. 

"For this reason, Mr . .Judge, we consider that both the events in Russia and in Guatemala have a 

relationship as well as there are being presented some documents that prove its legal status and 

that allows it to defend the rights of the bank's interests in Guatemala. 

Therefore this representation considers that with the latest reforms in the Code of Criminal 

Procedure and in relation to the aggrieved person, you should consider to accept as an adhesive 

co-complainant ... "3 

• January 26, 2015 

The leading Russian business newspaper, Kommersant, reports that VTB lawyers involved 

CICIG in the Bitkovs' case: 

"In December ()j'last year [2014], VTB lawyers involved in the CICIG investigation acting 

under UN auspices. This organization requested all information about the Bitkov couple from itY 

Guatemalan branch, first having notarised all documents at the Guatemalan embassy in 

Moscow. " 4 

• December 14, 2017 

VTB and CICIG filed an appeal seeking to annul the Appeals Court decision (the Amparo) 

in the Bitkovs' favour 

• April25, 2018 

The Constitutional Court of Guatemala upheld the Appeals Court decision in favour of the 

Bitkovs, and rejected the appeals from (i) VTB and (ii) CICIG. The Bitkovs case was sent for reconsideration by the first instance criminal court that originally sent them to trial' 

Yours sincerely, 

William Browder 

Head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign 

3 Audio File link- https://g1.sounddou4£2m/suppo!J.:tl1£-bit.l&m:B.:Q.ffi.£ial-chgpncl/cicjg-pidc-~ti:iggcgalvcz-qug banco-ru%2: 

~J!:gucrcU;;g1tc-cQ!ltra-familla-bitkO\:§. 

4 Kommersant article VTB Search https://v.rv./w.kommcrsant.ru/doc/2653947.. 

5 Court Order -http://wv.tw.ce.gob.gt/20 18/04/26/resolucion~6098-20 l?:acum-6130-20 17-caso-bitkov/ 
58 

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30032.003

VTB's Persecution of the Bitkovs in Guatemala- Timeline 

Apr2009 The Bitkov family engaged a 1aw firm in Guatemala, Cutino Associates) The Bitkovs lawyers 

to obtain ID and residence documents in Guatemala 

~~~2~00~9~-+~T~h-e~B~itk_o_v~fu-n~u~1}-,C-'a_m_e_t_o~G~'u_a_w_·n-,a~la ________________________ -4~T~h-c~B~itko_v_s la_wy __ cr-s---4 

A-p-r -200"'9-;---~"-""-"'-·"·--m--··--;1··"-"--P--a_s_s __ p_o __ rt ___ ag"_e_n_c ___ y-; (·RE;c:·;:-N~-~A:-r.:'"l'"";'"s""s""u"e-:d-n--e-w-, m'"'s_t_o ___ tch-e·-,-;_ B-;-it-:--ko""v---+T'"h"e"""'B~i-:-;tk_o_vs-;-la"-w"y--er_s_,__ 

family (Igor, Irina and Anastasia), with fees paid by Cutino Associates 

F using Cutino Associates' corporate credlt card 

e20i":l"" VTB Ban"kCbalrman-AndrelKosiliiis~~;~d a Power-;;;: Attorney u;--- +:;-:20"'I1"'3"'V-;;T;;;B=r""o""'A ________ _ 

1 Henry Comte, a founding partner ofComte & Font law tim1 & -m, ,;;. 

Alternative Judge of the Constitutional Com1 of Guatemala .;;, "a- i and 

Cour 

I t of Guatemala 

2 Dec 2013 VTB Bank fll~a coill(ilailitagaT!is"i-iile Bitkovs forra!s.i"f'"rc-acoti-m-,-o""f ____ 2ol3!-2ii2--vrs _____ _ 

documents and money laundering Complaint; 

CIClG Press release: 

otO 

w 

8 July 2014 VTB Bank Chairman Andrei Kostin issued a fu;ther power of -----~2oi4VTB POA ____________ _ 

~;------------ _attorney to Henry Comte 

13 Nov 2014 VTB complaint against the Bitkovs is accepted by CICIG C!C!G press release:;;, 

Y cntntO 

emi' nR. .. ntntO!articlei 

1si-~n 2015--Theco-;;-rtissued a warrant-fo_r_t-hc--B-itkovs-~-arre5l _________________ +c"'I;-;c'"'IG~-----:-I-------i 

httn·l/,!;~:s ~:~~ase,;;, 

,n 

1 larticlei 

I 

l!retumid~ 

2Tiin 20 t5 .. TVTB'-cic-ss_t_re""'d_a_;_x __ c_s_s_s_t_at_e_m_e_n_t p-r-a'""is7'in_ro_' ="t-:h-e_c_o-or-dcci-na_t_ecod-a-c=ti-on-s--of=v=r=s--i=v=TB~ p-r-es--s ;statetl1e_n_t ---

Bank and CICIG", which led to the detention of the Bitkovs: httos:/lria.n>/world/?0150 

12 /IQ4«10?10< 

"Thanks to the coordinated actions hy VTB Bank and ClCIG in 

Guatemala Igor and Irina Bitkov have been detained." 

~=2~2J a_n_2~0~l~S-+~c=I~c=.I~G~ar-g--u-e~d~i-n--C~o-u_r_t~f-or~v=·r=B~to~b-e-a=ll-ow--ed--to--jo--i-n--t-h_e ___________ ~A~u-d~io~F~ilc~lir""',k---------~ 

proceeding against the Bitkovs htm<·lln '"'" i rnlsunnort 
59 

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30032.004

C!CIG's Attomey: Gonzalez Orellana Intervention 

a events 

in Russia, and that they, follmving up on those events 

Russia, the people who are avoidingjustice in that country came to 

Guatemala, and committed other crimes, and none a.,{ those ojfi?nses can 

he left in impunity. 

"The filet that 

presenting in this 

ri[?hts that-were crimes committed in the country of 

Russia, gives them the competence that they present their selves as 

ternpormy co-complainants in the present case. 

"For this reason, Mr. Judge, we consider that both the events in Russia 

and in Guatemala have a relationship as H'ell as there are 

presented some documents that prove its legal status and that it 

I to defend the rights of the hank's interests in Guatemala. 

Then?fore this representation considers that with the latest refOrms in 

the Code of Criminal Procedure and in relation to the aggrieved person, 

you should consider to accept as an adhesive co-complainant . " 

26 Jan 20 I 5 The leading Russian business newspamp1te;;:r,:JKK.Oomm;;m:Ue;;:rss;a;;:nitt,:lr:Oeopornrrt:tssththaatt --h:-;;;;:;;;;~;;:;;;;;t;;rt;;:k-::-j VTB lawyers involved CICIG in the Bitkovs' case: 

"In December of las/ year [2014}, VTB lawyers involved i11 the CJCIG 

investigation acting under UN auspices. This organization requested all 

information about the Bitkov couple.fi-om its Guatemalan branch, first 

having notarised all documents at the Guatemalan embasi•:y in 

A4oscmv." 

30 Apr 2015 Irina 

19 Jun 201s ·jv'fs-Ba~kd~:eiin-;,d to p;~~;;;;d-;-~ithlt~-~Gim ~gai~tthelitik-;;;;;---- 1 stating that events took place in Russia 

1.26Aug 2015 I VTB Bank Chairman Andrei Kostin issued a further power of 

I attorney to Henry Comte 

("Declinatoria 

Interpuesta") 

2015 VTB POA 

30 Jan 2017 -lThe Bitkovs ft"tl-ed-c-at-,-a-pp-e-·ac-1-a-ga~i-n-st~V~r=B~'s_r_o~le.i~th~-c;se agaiiJst."tl-,e-m--t-;;l"·h-c-;;-Bilko_v_s_la-v.:Y-;,rs ·-

2 May 2017-tvTB was excluded as a plal.ntiffbythe Appeals Court in the ease 

I ~gai~st the Bitkovs stating that events alleged by VTB took place in 

Russta 

I 9 Oct 2017 The Appeals Comt granted an 

favour of the Bitkovs stating that case concerns 

administrative~ not criminal, violations 

Court decision 

Court decision 

2 
60 

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30032.005

F"""" · vrn "'"'""";;;;,ceo<.;; K~"' '""" • '""'"' ,owe;oc-- -------~ --------------·,-~,-·----

20!7VTBPOA 

attomey to Juan Salguero 

- - -----·--------·· ec 2017 Although VTB Bank had already been excluded from I he criminal Video Fileproceedings, it showed up in the courtroom and before the beginning of •vnntnh 

the debate, the President of the Court requested them to leave oho 

'I:4Dcc 2011 VTB filed an appeal seeking to annul the Appeals Court decision VTB Appeal 

(the Amparo) iu the Bitkovs' favour 

14 Dec 2017 On the same day, CICIG filed an appeal seeking to annul the CIC!G Appeal 

Appeals Court decision (the Amparo) in the Bitkovs' favour 

-- 4 April2018 VTB Chairman, Andrei Kostin, published a statement in The Wall Street VTB's letter in WSJ 

Joumal, stating that: •u«; ,/ort; 

"The VTB 's action relating to the Bitkov jami(v is an example of aQainst-the-bitkovs-is· 

• iust-1522872349 standard procedure in resolving serious financial business disputes 

through the available legal channels_.. 

----------- ---------------- 25 Apr 2018 The Constitutional Court of Guatemala upheld the Appeals Court Court Order: 

decision in favour of the Bitkovs, and rejected the appeals from httn·l/www • ooh oti?Ol 

(i) VTB and (ii) CTCIG. The Bitkovs case was sent for re-consideration 20 7-acum-6130-20 7- by the first instance criminal court that originally sent them to trial 

9May2018 The first instance criminal court holds a new hearing in the Bitkovs case 

as mandated by the Constitutional Court 

3 
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Dear Chairman Wicker and Co-Chairman Smith: 

=vTB 

r 

Chainnan Roger Wicker 

555 Dirksen Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 2Q5l 0 

Co-Chainnan Chris Smith 

2373 Rayburn House Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20515 

On behalfofVTB Bank, I wanted to share our concerns about the Helsinki Commission's 

upcoming hearing, "The Long Arm of Injustice: Did a UN Commission Founded to Fight 

Corruption Help the Kremlin Destroy a Russian Family?" We are concerned that the witnesses 

who will testify before your commission will convey an incomplete set of facts and distort the 

record in a way to make the Bitkov family look !ike victims of persecution rather than criminals 

who absconded with millions of dollars to Guatemala in order to avoid paying their creditors in 

Russia more than $!58 million. 

VTB Bank is Russia's second largest financial institution. The Russian government owns 60.9%, 

but the remaining shareholders are institutional investors and individual shareholders who hold 

Global Depository Receipts listed on the London Stock Operationally, VTB is totally 

independent. We operate freely. Like other global financial institutions, the management team 

runs the bank tor the benefit of clients and investors. 

VTB has been a model corporate citizen. Among other things, VTB has worked to combat 

corruption and enhance corporate governance standards and is already fully compliant with Basel 

HI capital standards, far ahead of many of our global competitors. 

The United States and the European Union have sanctioned VTB in response to Russia's position 

in Ukraine- not because of anything VTB has done wrong. We look furward to the time when 

the sanctions will be lifted and VTB can once again be a trusted partner in the West in the 

meantime, protecting VTB Bank's hard-earned reputation is critical. 

VTB Bank first learned about this hearing from tweets by Mr. Bill Browder suggesting that he 

would testify and provide evidence that VTB Bank intlueneed Guatemala to imprison members 

ofthe Bitkov family. No one at the Helsinki Commission ever reached out to VTB Bank to 

attempt to validate these baseless allegations. 

SWlfT: VTBRRUMM 
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Everything we have done in the Bitkov case has been reasonable and appropriate. Every action 

we have taken comports with global norms. And we believe that any bank in our position would 

have taken the same steps. We want to refute unequivocally that VTB has acted improperly. 

Furthermore, irrespectively ofVTB's reasonable actions in this case, a joint statement from 

C!CIG and Attorney General of Republic ofGuatemala1 in relation to Bitkovs' migration case 

emphasizes, among other things, that Guatemalan institutions have acted with independence and 

adherence to the law, with the sole purpose of ensuring the interests of Guatemalans. 

Sincerely, 

Alexey V. Lozovoy 

General Counsel 

VTB Bank (P JSC) 

' http://www.cicig.org/index.php?mact=News,cntntO l ,detail,O&cntntO I articleid~890&cntnt0 1 returnid= 1 816 
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• IN.J\CIF • !ns!!!uto Niiciohal,deC"iincias forenses de Guat~mala 

Ucenciada 

DICTAMEN PERICIAL 

CAROL PATRICIA FLORES POLANCO 

Juez 

Juzgado Primero de Primera lnstancia Penal de Mayor Riesgo "A" 

Organismo Judicial 

Guatemala, Guatemala 

Senor" Jueza: 

Guatemala, 15 de mayo de 2015 

De manera atenta me dirijo a ustod en relaci6n a oficio de fecha 13 de mayo de 2015 recibido en el 

lns!itutv Nacional de Ciencias rorenses de Guateml!lla -INACIF· el 14/0512015; el mismo con 

re(erencia 01071-2010-0164410f.5o a traves del cuaJ se solicita Ia realizaci6n de PERITAJE 

PSIQUIA!HICO a ANASTASIA BITKOVA. Dado que lui designado para atender el peritaje, 

respBtuosamentc manlfiesto. 

i. 0!1JETIVOS DEL PERITAJE 

i .1.1. lndicar si Ia procesada Anastasia Sitkova se encu.,ntra en capacidad para ser 

trasladada a Centro de Detencion Preventiva del pais. 

2. FUENTES-DE INFORMACION 

2.1 ANASTASIA BITI{QVA. 

2.2 Expedlente clinico del Hospital Concepci6n donde Ia eval)lada se encuentra internada. 

2.3 Dictamen pericial PPCEN-2015-0011791NACIF·2015·007232 de fecha 16 de febrero de 

2015 y Dictamen Pericial PPCEN-2014- 2425/INACIF- 2015-7232 con fecha a de marzo 

del2015. 

3. METODO EMPLEADO 

3.1 Evaluaci6n clinica pslquiatrica. 

4. PROCEOIMIENTO 

4. ·1 Se revls6 el expedicntc cllnico proporcionado par el Hospital Concepci6n . 

• ;.2 So !e inforrn6 a persona a evaluar sobre el objetivo de Ia evaluaci6n, Ia metodologia a 

utilizer y el destinatario de Ia informacion a obtcner. 

4.3 La evaluaci6n se realiz6 prellio consentimienlo de Ia persona a evaluar. 

4.4 S" pr<,ctlc6 pslquiellrica a ANAST ASIA BITI<OVA, el 15 de mayo de 2015, a 

Ins once horas con cero minutos (11;00 horas), en !as ltlstalaciones del Hospi(al 

Concepcion, kikimetro 16 carretera a El Salvador, aldaa Don Justo, municipio de Santa 

Catarina Pinula. 

4.5 Se efeclu6 el analisis psiquiatrico para es!ablecer conclusiones. 

5. DATOS GENERALES DEL CASO 

!5.1 Nombre d.e Ia persorla: ANASTASIA BITI<OVA. 

5.2 Ectad: 24 at\os. 

5.3 Sexo: femenino. 

6.4 Fecha de nacimiento: 25 de tliciembre de i 990. 

5.5 Lugar de nactml!lnto: Rusia. ' 

5.5 Escotaridad: Licendatura en Marketing y Relaciones Publicas obtenida en el loqdon 

Business International School. 

5.'1 Religion: Crlstiana. 

5 .. 8 Qcupaci6n: Modelo y actriz. 
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·INACIF· ln,;HtuloNa.::~usForem;es 

deGua!emala 

Hoja 2 de 

6.1 Medicos: refrere que padece de colon irritable y que fue sometida a una colecistectomia 

6.2 Psiquiatricos: Tiene diagn6sticos documentados de Trastorno Afectivo Bipolar y Trastorno 

de personalidad Borderline. Multiples internamientos en hospitales psiquiatricos por 

descompensac!6n de su estado emocional y tres intentos de suicidio. Entre sus m8dicos 

tratantes aparecen los psiquiatras guatemaltecos Hernandez Bocaletti, Martinez Porras, 

Avila Monti, Ortiz y Saravia Torrebiarte. En Julio de 2014 internada en Sanatoria Los Pinos 

y 2 voces rlespues en hospital Mederi. El diagn6stico de bipolar lo Ilene desde los 16 aiios 

y .\a prirnera crisis fue a los 19 alios. Actualmcnte esta siendo tratada par el Dr. Jose 

Antonio Saravia psiquiatro, q~:ien consigna en tvoluci6n del 28 de abr[! del 

2015, que Ia eva!uaUa sufri6 crisis emocionaf, con Hanto incontro!able, dificJJltad para dormir 

y tambien intenso aburrimiento y frustraci6n, par lo que hubo que aumentar dosis de 

algunos rnedicamentos. 

6.3 Medicamentos:Actualmente tiene indicado AcidoValp10ico, Epival ER(valproato 

sernis6dico) 500 mgs tres veces al dia. Oxicarbamazepina 75 rngs at dia. Seroquel (quetiapina) 

600 mgs par Ia noche. Rivotril (clonazepan) 20 gotas en hora de sueiio y 5 gotas a rnedio dia. 

Dormicum 15 mgs. E Ia noche. 

7. ESTRUCTURA Y DINAMICA FAMILIAR 

Refiere depender de sus dos padres y que cuenta con un herrnano de 3 afios de edad. Ambos 

padres se encuenlran en proceso judicial, el padre detenido y Ia madre con ella en el hospitaL Su 

hermano actualmente en un orfanato. 

8. fiECHOS RELACIONADOS A LA DENUNCIA 

ANASTASIA BITKOVA refiere:" Yo me siento bien, solo he tenido algunos problemas con una 

muJer que se llama Bealriz, ella es custodia policial y me ha estado acosando. La vez pasada le 

permilieron ami hermano venir y ella comenz6 a amenazarnos con Hamar a Ia PGN para que se !o 

llevaran y despues lo regreseron at orfanato. Beatriz tambien el otro dia , que tenia que vigilar en el 

jardin, porque los po!icias se acoslaOan en las camas desocupadas con las botas y manchaban , me 

d!jo gracias por mandarme aca como perra, tambiEm se metia a nuestro cuarto a vernos dormir cart 

una linterna, Cuando vi no mi papa porque lo operaron, mi mama lo acompaflaba y ella comenz6 a 

Hamar a FraJjanes diciendo que mi mama estaba haciendo ef amor con un hombre extrarlo. Eso me 

pU!>O muy mal y por eso tuve una crisis nerviosa. Ahora afortunadamente tlene como dos dfas de no 

venir. Le dijimos a! abogudo y llnrnamos a! psiquiatra y e! solo me deja mas mediclna. Tambi8n ella 

ha reportado que yo no tcngo ninguna enfermedad, yo nose c6mo puede hacer eso". 

9. RESPUESTAS PSICOLOGICAS EN RELACION A LOS HECHOS 

ANASTASIA BITKOVA refiere:" He estado bien, tengo una psic61oga que me ve a diario y hacernos 

ejercicios con ella. Con Ia crisis que tuve por culpa de Ia policia rea!mente me puse muy mal . Yo 

tengo mucho miedo de que me puedan trasladar a Ia zona 18, yo no creo poder soportaresto, cuando 

yo estuve en Ia carce!eta yo sabia que corrfamos mucho riesgo con mi mama. Alii no me dieron mi 

medicina y tambi8n no com1mos por varios dias. Tememos a los ruses, yo nose todos los detal!es 

de lo que paso con nuestros papeles, pero no entiendo per que el gobierno ruso estan aca para 

hablar sabre nuestro caso. E!los pusieron ami hermanlto en un orfanato. Aca estoy protegida porque 

hay vigilancia de muchas personas y en Ia carcel no se que podrla pasar. No entiendo par que no 

estamos en nuestra casa, si los otros que tamb!en estuvieron presos , ya estan libres. El abogado 

dice que el va a pedir que nos dejen libres par el Pacta de Palermo. Nosotros huimos de Rusia 

rnis papns no aceptaron propuestas de! gobierno que eran corruptas. Yo quiero dormlr, 

donnlr par dfas, me siento preocupada, triste. Yo cuando pierdo cualquier esperanza he 

intentado mati::lrme y !o lte hecho con medicarnentos y la primera vez me los tome y me meti al mar. 

Cuando rne siento presion<Jd" el control y hasta despues me day cuenta de lo que hice. La 

ultima vez deje de tqrnar rni y tmbajabd hasta 1 G horas diarias, esa vez puse una nota 

p!diHndo ayuda. Yo no en matarrne, solo reacciono asL Estoy ahara escribiendo un libro y 

estudio psico1ogia y todo para no perder mi tiempo y para ser mas fuerte , pero en !a carcel no 

pueUo hacer esas cosas Ten go !T!Ucho mieUo. " 

10. EXAMEN MENTAL 
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INACIF 2014~'3298 

Hoja 3 de 3 

ren1ola se encuentlan conservadas. Su inteligencia impresiona dentro de limites normales, pqr el 

desenvolvimiento y capecidad de analisis que muestra en Ia entrevista; ademas que le permite 

comprender el motivo de Ia entrevista, estructurar un relata, valorar los contenidos del mismo y 

comportarse en concordancia con su in teres. Posee un pensamlento estructurado y organ!zado< No 

p1esenta a nivcil de pensamfento, ninguna alteraci6n de Ia fotma, el curso o el contenldo, Su juldo 

es !6gico y tiene claridad del mlsmo para formar conceptos razonables y · llegar a conclusiO't'!es 

adecuadas; as! como para discernir entre el bien y el mal. Sin embargo su valoraci6n de Ia realidad 

es pobre, · es decir, que no esta psic6tica, pero le es diflcil referir experiencias que ha vivido y 

construidas de forma !6glca y conslstente. Las reacciones emotivas que presenta son de ansiedad, 

tristeza, preocupac16n, mledo y falta de esperanza. Todas estas son acordes con los estfmulos 

presentes y evidencian que Ia situacion le genera conllicto de acuerdo con lo esperado. 

11. ANALISIS Y CONCLUSIONES 

11.'1 Almomento actual ANASTASIA BITKOVA presenta una condicion cl!nica estable desde el 

pun to de vista cognitive. Esto significa que su pensamlen!p es Iucido y coherente. El padecimiento 

psiqui<3trico que sufre esta Sin embargo sus caracteristicas de persona lid ad le hacen 

ser voluble, impu!siva e Estas camcterlsticas pueden:en·un memento de estres, tal y como 

ella misma to refiere, un nuevo inlento suicfdo. Pues tal y como se ha documentado en 

d!ferentes evaluac!ones, intentos suicidas nose carrelqciomm directamente con !a depresi6n de 

una de las lases del ciclo del afectivo bipolar, sino que con una conducta que no tolera Ia frustraci6n, 

que es inestable y propensa a ia impulsividad y que le ha caracterizado como un rasgo de 

personalidad dominante 

11.2 lgnorarnos las condiciones especif!cas Oe su sftuacl6n !ega!, pero de ser posfble, ella se 

encuentra en Ia capacidad y las posibilidades de continuar su tratamiento de forma ambulntoria. No 

ast, de permsnecer recluida en un centro carcelario, pues ella si puede exacerbar el potencial riesgo 

suicido de su conducta ante una situaci6n que Ia sobrepasa psfquicamente. Porto que no esta en 

condici6n de ser relerida a ningun centro carcelario en este mom!lnto o en un momenta futuro, debida 

al potencial riesgo sulclda. 

EJ pn..::S-ente dictamen va extendldo en 3 hojas escritas en 

de Clfnica forense, asi como la firma y se!!o del perito que 

Oe!erentemente, 

cc 

Archivo 

las mismas !levan et se!!o de fa Secci6n 
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•

1 ~8r~$J(j~··~te Ia. Facuftad de. Cient;:las 

\~rri0:$.1!1~ ·.~l.uat1m1ala, lllliembro del 

(?JJ!at~~ma•l~, coleglado activo nllmero 
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