Greg's Trip to Russia

Russian Retreat
 
Greg’s Ordeal In Russia -2002

     Alan and I were finishing a glorious trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg when suddenly the world turned upside down for me.  We were at the Moscow airport terminal and just about to board the plane.  After a myriad of passport control checks and security protocols we were faced with a final carry-on baggage screening directly at the gate where the plane was being boarded.  Alan went first and everything was okay.  My bag went through and next thing you know the lady asked me open it up for a look.   I immediately had some trepidation.  I had put all of my souvenirs in that carry on bag a total of eleven all of which were junky touristy kind of souvenirs, except for two. 
      We had decided to travel to a flea-market in Moscow, and I had always had a desire to own a nice Russian Icon made of silver.  We found a treasure trove a Icons located in one of the aisles of the flea-market.  There were probably at least 50 different dealers with hundreds of pieces to choose from.  I was pretty picky but finally found one that really seemed to call me for some reason.  We had a guide/interpreter with us and he had told me that the one I wanted could possibly have problem getting through customs as it was required that all icons with any age must have a certificate from the Russian ministry of culture.  Unfortunately, I was told that the process to get the documentation takes approximately a month to acquire.   The cost of the icon was $350.  I made a decision that the worst case scenario was that if I bought it and was stopped by customs and didn’t have the certificate, that they would just confiscate it, so I thought oh what the hell, for $360 I’ll take the chance.  The guide even told me that he had other clients who had purchased icons at that same market and had never had a problem.  I bargained down the dealer to sell it to me the silver icon for $300 and also purchased a second Icon with a brass riza that for only $25 which they indicated to me would be no problem at all to purchase.  I tucked them both away and went on having a great time for the next week on our trip.
     This brings me now back to the airport terminal on our departing flight back to the U.S.   As the security person opened my bag and rifled through my souvenirs she soon came upon the cheap brass icon.  She immediately set it aside and looked very distraught, and made a call to her supervisor.  I thought, ok, she’s really going to have a cow when she sees the silver one.   As we were waiting for her boss to come I began to inquire about what was going on?  She brought over an agent that could interpret and I was told that I had  problem.   I said ok, what is the problem.  I was curtly told that these older pieces were not allowed to be taken to the U.S. 
       As we waited my partner Alan was becoming concerned as the plane was fully boarded by then, and the Delta agents were looking a bit apprehensive.  I finally said, “Look,  I didn’t know these were going to create a problem, and if they are going to hold me up from my flight, then just go ahead and take them, because I don’t need a problem.”   The agents chatted amongst themselves for a few moments with an air of ambiguity, but then one of the head agents seemed to get pretty miffed and started saying “Nyet” “Nyet. “ and the interpreter soon indicated to me that I would not being flying on this plane today. 
      I was pretty mortified, and just thinking, Christ had did this happen?  At that point the plane was about to close the door and proceed to fly out.  Alan asked me if I wanted him to stay or go?  Initially, I said, yes, please stay.  However, moments later, the security screeners insisted that he re x-ray his carry on baggage again, and Alan started to have a very visible tantrum over it.  I thought,  being hot headed here isn’t going to be the best way to handle this situation.  I then caught a wind of wisdom and decided that it would be best if he just went on without me . I would just have to deal with this situation on my own.  He reluctantly went on and I felt a sense of deep loss as I saw the plane pull out of the gate with him and taxi out to the runway.
      I was kept right there at the gate for another hour and they sat me down and more or less interrogated with a very fluent interpreter about why I had these icons.  I gave them the full story about buying them in the flea market, but frankly I was pretty scared to let them know that our Russian guide had indicated that they might confiscate the pieces.  Our guide certainly hadn’t indicated to me that in purchasing these that it could possibly make me miss my flight result in being detained for several days or even result in jail time.  Hell, I’d never taken a chance like that had I known all that.
       After I was debriefed at the gate for an hour, I was then escorted to the main police office in the airport where a very heavy, set woman led me back to her office and I was interrogated again from the very beginning.  I explained to her using the same very fluent interpreter that I was an innocent tourist who didn’t know that buying these pieces was a crime, and that I had bought them at a flea market from a dealer there who spoke little to no English.  She was very pressing about getting me to give her names and times.  I told her as much as I could remember, and she became frustrated when I couldn’t even tell her the name of the flea market.  I described it and how long it took to get there from the hotel.  They seemed to know which one I was talking about and wanted to know specifics on which dealer in particular sold it to me.  I told her that there were at least 50 different booths there which sold icons and that there would be no way I’d be able to ever identify which dealer sold me the articles in question.  She asked me to produce the receipt, and I told her flat out that just like every other store and place in Russia they demanded U.S. dollars and didn’t even offer to give me a receipt.
     The female investigator was also incredulous about my story in that I was able to fly from Moscow to St. Petersburg with the Icons and then back to Moscow with no other security agents stopping me.  She was beginning to conjecture that I made a special trip to some shady icon dealer that morning in Moscow.  At that point I could tell this lady was looking to stick it to me so to speak.  I asked her if I was being arrested, because she seemed like she was getting pretty heated.  She concluded the interview by telling me that they were bring in an appraiser to value the icons and their age and that I would have to wait in the police lobby area for an hour until this information was ascertained and then at that time I would be told it I was under arrest or not. 
    I went to the lobby and waited there for two hours.  None of the policemen there even spoke any English, but another person they brought in spoke English with an British accent, and seemed pretty disoriented looking for someone to help him.  I finally told him that none of them spoke any English and then I was quickly chided not to speak!   At that point, I began to realize that here I am in a underdeveloped foreign country in a jail where I’m being held and have no rights.  It was becoming clear to me that this place was a police state where the cops are judge, jury, executioner all rolled into one.
     After two hours of sitting on their uncomfortable bench, I was directed to grab my luggage and follow these officers.  I was escorted out of the airport with four armed guards into a squad car.  I tried desperately to ask any of them if they spoke any English and what exactly what was going on but got no where.  The squad car pulled out of the airport and I was driven along with another civilian to a police office about 5 miles away.
    We entered the facility and the first room on the right was a cell.  Upon initial entry, I assumed that all the rooms in the long foyer I saw were all cells and that this was their county jail.  They escorted me into the first room on the right, which was jail cell.  They left the door open and I was told to wait.  I had really no idea if I was under arrest and would be spending the night or would be left there to stay indefinitely.  It was probably the most pensive amount of time I’ve ever spent in my life.   I tried to ask a guard if I could make a call, but none of them spoke English. 
     After a long arduous 3 and 1⁄2 hour wait, I was again escorted out of the cell and out of the facility into a squad car.  This time a younger cop in street clothes was in the front seat, and I again asked what was happening to me and he didn’t speak English.  We finally arrived back at the airport again and I had a glimmer of hope that maybe they bring me back to release me.
     Unfortunately, that was not the case.  They escorted me again to the police station in the airport and back into an interrogating office in the back.  The young officer came inside along with a very peculiar looking man with a funny walk and who was missing all of his front teeth.  The odd man started to speak to me in a very broken and difficult to understand English and it became apparent that he was there to serve as an interpreter.
    I was pretty weary at this point having been detained for almost 7 hours and being offered nothing to eat or drink, and having been kept completely in the dark about my standing.   My rights had been basically taken completely away and I didn’t see too much hope coming up.  This third interview started out rather hostile.  The officer immediately through the interpreter said that I was a big criminal and that this was a serious matter in which I could spend quite a lot of time in prison.  I was flabbergasted and incredulous as to the assertions.
      It was explained to me that he was the criminal investigator and that they had strong suspicions that I stole these icons with the aid of a local Russian person and that had a big problem here.  I took a deep breath and tried to relax as I started again to explain myself and recanted the story in full length as to how I purchased the icons at the flea market and did not steal them from anyone or any church.  I also asserted that I was just an innocent tourist who came to their country for a much needed vacation with no intent to perpetrate a crime and that I spent a lot of money on food, hotels, tours, and in buying souvenirs, and now as a reward for all that I was being arrested and treated as a villain.   I told the investigator flat out that was not a criminal and that I was a decent kind human being who just accidentally bought these 2 items by mistake not knowing that it was a criminal offense.  I also told him all the places we visited and how much we had enjoyed seeing Russia, and that I didn’t come to their country to rob them of their ancient artifacts as they were implying.
      After about an hour of questions and answers, the tone seemed to change in my favor somewhat, and the interpreters at least seemed to be coming on board with my story and started to treat me with a bit more respect than at the initial onset.  However, the cop was pretty staunch about it and was saying that I would have to spend at least 6 days in jail.  Somewhere in the mix of things the interpreter and the policeman started to converse between each other more than acting as a go between and the interpreter then said that 3 days would be the more likely amount of time in prison.
    I started to shake my head in disbelief and was thinking, how can I even spend one night in jail in some dirty foreign prison where no one can even understand me.  I pleaded with him saying that I didn’t want to go to jail and that there had to be some other alternative, perhaps a fine or something else.  The interpreter and the young officer chatted some more and then it was told to me that for the first night I would be able to spend the night back in the hotel, and then the next day I would be brought back to the airport and then they would decide whether I go to jail or not.  The session concluded and I was escorted out of the jail almost it seemed in remanded custody to the interpreter who was going to take me to the hotel.
     Just outside of the police area and in the main lobby of the airport, the interpreter who’s name was Valera told me that he had helped me greatly in there and that the policeman was very close to putting me in jail, but that he had suggested house arrest in the hotel, and that the cop was alright with that.  Valera then implied heavily that he wanted to help me further with my situation, but that he’d need compensation of a month’s worth of his salary which was $100.   I decided that it couldn’t hurt to give him the money, and if indeed he did have influence with the police department and could help, then it was definitely worth the hundred dollars to take the chance.
     I was then driven from the airport to my hotel by a taxi cab driver that Valera obviously knew very well, and then told to meet them both the next morning at 10:00am to be driven back to the airport where I would again meet with the police to determine where my case was at and whether or not I would be put in jail or made to stay here longer.  However, he said to not worry and that he was going to make thing all right for me and that I might be leaving tomorrow after I met with them.  That sounded good, but I was little unsure of Valera’s credibility at this point.
     When I got to my room at near midnight I immediately called Alan and left a message, and then called my parents to let them know I was in trouble.  They were very distraught and surprised but told me to call the U.S. embassy the next morning to get some help.  I then went to bed and hardly slept, but was at least very relieved that I was spending the night in a comfortable hotel room and not in some call hard Russian prison cell.
    The next morning I awoke and called the U.S. Embassy at 9:00am, no answer.  I called again and finally got a hold of Lev in American Citizen Services.  When I tried to explain my plight to the Russian authorities that they made a mistake and that I was innocent, they were pretty gruff and said it was my problem not theirs.  The U.S. Embassy people more or less said the same thing, but were just nicer about how they said it.  I asked them if anyone had ever been in my situation before like this and they said that there had been even recently in the past two weeks and that yes, that there had even been some American incarcerated.  One lady had purchased 4 icons and spent two weeks in jail.  The call to the embassy concluded that they would fax me a list of Russian lawyers, but they couldn’t really recommend one over another.
    I was extremely disappointed after my call to the U.S. embassy.  I really thought they were going to offer me more assistance than what they did.  I was half expecting them to send out some Jag lawyer like Mac or Harm, but to my dismay I felt like I was left out to dry.  How come the U.S. Embassy doesn’t have an on staff lawyer there for Americans in trouble to utilize when needed.?  “Why do we even have an embassy here if they aren’t going to help me?”, is what I thought.
     My gut instinct was to hold back on a lawyer.  I thought, ”I’m suppose to hire some dubiously credible Russian lawyer to defend me?”  Hell, for all I know they might want to drag the whole thing on to just get a bigger fee.  I decided to not go that route and to see what panned out with Valera, the interpreter guy I had paid $100 to help me. 
     I checked out of the hotel with all my luggage, and then Valera’s taxi driver buddy came over to the hotel on time and took me to the airport.  We got to the airport at 11:00am, but no one was there.  That seemed strange and I waited almost an hour before Valera showed up.  He told me that I would have to stay here in Russia for about 5 more days and that customs was processing the paperwork and then after that I could leave.  I was kind of disappointed because I half expected to be able to leave that afternoon to go home, but it didn’t happen.  Valera, wanted me to go to some hotel that was a lot cheaper, and his taxi buddy again was there to take me back.  I insisted that I wanted to go back to my original hotel, and that I didn’t care if it was more expensive.  Valera then told me that he was meeting with the criminal investigator at 3:00pm and that he would come to my hotel at 7:30pm to fill me in as to what was going on.
     After this brief disappointing meeting with my interpreter I then just decided to follow his instructions and proceed to the hotel.  I was almost tempted to try and find the police on my own because I was beginning to doubt the authenticity of Valera’s claim of helping me, but then quickly decided that  at least I’m a free man still and that if I go to the police they might want to throw me in jail again.
     I got back the hotel, and checked back in and realized that I was ravenous with hunger as I had hardly eaten much in the past 24 hours so, I had their buffet lunch and then went to the hotel gym and worked out . It ended up being a great stress reliever.  I waited in the hotel lobby from 7:30pm to 8:30pm and Valera did no show up as he had indicated.
      I finally talked to Alan that night and gave him the update. He suggested that I call Dima our original guide and interpreter that we had used on our trip in Moscow.  I later heard from Valera that night and he said he had to work late and that he would meet me the next day at the hotel at noon.  I decided that I would call Dima and have him join us as I could barely understand Valera’s English and it would help speed things along to have a more fluent interpreter.  I also talked again to my parents that night and they had indicated to me that they were on the ball with talking to the embassy and the state department and that they were trying to get me some help.
    Dima and I waited for Valera and he again stood me up.  At that point, I decided it was time to make some calls to find out who my criminal investigator was and what was  the status of my case.   I was convinced now that Valera had not been completely truthful to me about what was going on and that he had some kind of a financial interest in trying to extort money out me.  After a beleaguered afternoon of calls and dealing with the huge Russian bureaucracy, Dima my current interpreter and representative finally got in touch with the criminal investor department which was handling my case.
     He got the name of my investigator, but he was out of the office that day.  He did get to speak his direct superior and was told that the icons were out being appraised to see their true value and that it was also being determined whether or not they were stolen.   They told him to come in with me the next day at 2:00pm and that would like to talk to me further.
     I was practically numb here.  It was pretty obvious that they were building a case against me.  I quickly decided that a lawyer was now needed and that it would be best to have him accompany me to the scheduled meeting with the investigator.   Dima knew an American lawyer who had lived in Moscow for 8 years and gave his firm a call.  The lawyer advised against us having him attend saying that if he came it could make things a lot worse.  He said that the Russian police department is very very corrupt and that it would be best to go down just ourselves and if they say they are going to charge us, that we ask them to recommend a lawyer to us.  They would then assign us one of their lawyer cronies and then come up with a quick financial settlement and then take all the money under the table and divide it up amongst themselves.
    My jaw dropped after hearing this.  “This country is so damn corrupt,” I said out loud.  Even before my predicament we had experienced and observed this many times.  At the airport coming back from St.Petersburg, our luggage was overweight and they wanted to charge us an extra 1200 rubbles ($40u.s.)
However, the head lady at the reservation counter of about 8 people told us that if we didn’t need a receipt that it would only be 800 rubbles.   We paid the lower amount but felt a little dirty about it thinking that that airline would never see a cent of that money.   This is the typical corruption running rampant over in Russia, and it was beginning to look like my case was all about getting some money out of me to let me go home.
      I relayed the bad news to Alan and he informed my family who was very worried about me.  The next morning, the day of the big meeting with the criminal investigator, I got a call first thing early morning from a friend of my Dad’s Jeff , who travels extensively on business in Russia. He said that I had better take about $500-$1000 to the meeting and that it was all about money there and that I needed to spearhead the fact that I was very upset and that I needed to tell them I want out of there ASAP and that if there’s a fine to pay, then I was ready to pay it.  I was actually pretty happy to hear that my dad had gone to such lengths to help me out by enlisting a friend’s advice.
     At 9:00am that morning I also got a call from the U.S. Embassy.  They were rather proactive about trying to help me now and the Chief of American Services, Howard Saloman had mentioned that my family had created quite a lot of uproar over this and that my brother, the mayor, had gotten Washington involved, and they were determined to help me as much as they could here.   The chief told me he would make a call to the investigator that morning and lobby on my  behalf and relay that my family was connected and had ties to the Bushes.  I thought  “Wow, they sure changed their tune, now they obviously are having some heat put on them, and they want this off their backs.”   
     Dima and I arrived to the investigator’s office right on time at 2:00pm and I was pretty nervous, as I thought I would have to re-plead my case and I really was going to drive the point home here that if I was this big criminal smuggler guy, then why did I buy 9 other cheap gaudy souvenirs.  I even brought them all along so that the investigator could see them.  Frankly, they all knew I wasn’t any criminal and knew that I was just a tourist.  The one lady going through my bags was even making fun of a funny looking hat with a bunch of military medals that I had purchased for my dad.  They 100% knew I was there for pleasure and not to steal the crown jewels as they were trying to make it all out to be like.
      Dima, my translator talked to the investigator for about 5 minutes with no translating and then turned around and said.  It’s all okay. They’ve closed the investigation and concluded that you’re not a criminal and you’re free to go.   I was then given back my plane tickets and signed off on a bunch of paperwork.  I think Dima was almost more relieved frankly then I was, because he knew that I had protected his identity as the original guide through out this whole investigation, and frankly the Russian authorities were really looking to nail some Russian person there for aiding and abetting and even though Dima gave me a mild warning I think we both knew that if I had given them out his name and told them every last detail that they probably would have gone back to him and blamed him for allowing me to buy the icons despite the mild warning and they probably would have thrown him in jail for quite a while because of it.
    We then went to the airport and to the Russian immigration control to retrieve my visa to leave the country, but they told us that the U.S. Embassy would have to provide that.  I then went to the embassy where I was treated like a visiting diplomat and the Chief of American Services had me come inside his office and chat while his subordinates had dropped everything and were working on obtaining my visa for the next morning.  I overheard the chief say to one subordinate that as soon as I got my exit visa to let Washington know right away.   It confirmed to me that they had been put under a lot of pressure . I later had found out that my brother, Chris, the mayor, had gotten Senator Bob Graham to personally fax a letter to the embassy on my behalf.
      I was really happy that my family had come through for me and I know that’s what made the difference.  The Chief  of American citizen services even told me that my case was a “best case scenario situation” for all the cases like it  that they had dealt with.   There was one lady who had purchased four icons and spent 2 weeks in jail and had to use a Russian lawyer.  
     Although I lost 4 days of my life, I at least felt good that I had handled myself well, made the right decisions, and that I had quite a lot of support and help from home.  All of which made the difference.
 
 
 
 
Tips to travelers going to a foreign country:
1)       Make sure you have a cell phone that works in their country.  I wasn’t allowed to use their phone in the police department, and having my own phone may have helped immensely.
2)       Make sure your cash advance limit on your credit card is adequate to give you several thousand dollars if needed.  My credit card to my dismay only had a $1000 cash advance limit.  I barely had enough cash to get me through.
3)       Make sure you have a credit card with a pin number.  ATM’s rule and are everywhere in the world anymore.  I would have easily be able to get ample cash had I known my pin #’s and the credit card companies will only mail you them upon request and not give them out over the phone.
4)       The State department issues travel advisories and warnings for each individual country.  Read up on these thoroughly before entering any foreign country that you plan to visit.  Apparently there was a warning about buying antiques in Russia and had I known about this it could have averted quite a debacle of problems for me.
5)       Take the time in advance to find out the phone # of the U.S. Embassy in all the countries that you plan to visit and have their numbers in your wallet ready and available to call.  The sooner you get them involved if you are in a predicament the better off you’ll be.
6)       Cash is king and even though it may be a risk, always make sure you have some ample supply of cash on you versus depending solely on ATM cards or traveler’s checks.  If you get in a situation like mine, money will at least buy you in the short term, the time you need to get organized.  If you have none at all you may just be that much more delayed and will have a harder time getting help.
7)       Make sure you have friends or family at home that you know you can call who will help.  Otherwise, you may be left out to dry and could be in for a long stay if you try to deal with a legal problem entirely on your own