Bring Victor Skormin Home Now!
Victor Skormin is a Distinguished Service Professor for the State University of New York at Binghamton. He was detained abroad in Kazakhstan on charges of currency smuggling. I am Jim Moronski, a friend and colleague of Victor and have tried to make as much information available as I can on the status of Victor's health and the efforts of others to help resolve this unfortunate situation as quickly as possible. I and many of his friends, believe that these charges are unfounded. It is very likely that Victor is a victim of a shakedown gone very wrong while attempting to leave the country. I created this site to help with the dissemination of information regarding his case and to allow more people to preview the information that only a few have had. For some unknown reason, the Administration of Binghamton University has not been in regular contact with Victor in the weeks since his detainment. This has led to dated and potentially inaccurate information being disseminated causing confusion to both faculty and students.
I will be trying to update this page regularly. I am in contact with him quite often (many times a day) and am very worried about his health and the Kazakh legal system. I hope that he prevails and is back in the United States with us as quickly as possible.
What can you do to help?
Please read over at least the diaries and send e-mails
to your US Senators and Representatives requesting action. Furthermore, e-mails
to the Binghamton University
Administration will help to show your support.
About Kazkhstan
Overseas Security Advisory Council
CIA World Fact Book
American Media (needs to be updated more)
Fox 40 October 27, 2008
Newschannel 34 October 24, 2008
Newschannel 34 October 22, 2008
Newschannel 34 October 21, 2008
Binghamton University Pipe Dream article October 28, 2008
Binghamton University Pipe Dream article October 24, 2008
Binghamton University Pipe Dream article October 21, 2008
Press and Sun Bulletin October 17, 2008
Press and Sun Bulletin October 16, 2008
Kazakh Press
Kazakhstani newspaper "Is There Justice in Kazakhstan?"
Second article (mostly Russian, look for comment in English Page 4 of 5).
Translation of second article
First article (Russian)
Translation of first article.
Victor's Diaries/Documents
Latest Hostage Diary (11/08/2008)
Canary
Open letter for help from American Politicians
Letter from Victor to Kazakh officials
Financial Details
Financial from Al Farabi University
Financial from Gumilev University
Currency Exchange Receipt
Letters of Recommendation
Letter of Support from the Binghamton University Faculty Senate (In Russian)
Original, amazingly indifferent, letter from Binghamton University "in support" of one of its Distinguished Service Professors
A very nice and complimentary letter from President DeFleur. (In Russian)
Letter of Support from EECE Department Chairman
Support letter from Russian Academy of Science
Legal Information
Originals in Russian
Questioning 1
Questioning 2
Recording
Injunction Order
Motion
Order to open the case.
Interrogation 1
Interrogation 2
Latest news
November 8, 2008 (1:45 PM):Victor updated his "Hostage Diary"
November 5, 2008 (7:15 AM):
Victor is home. He arrived Monday evening at 7:00PM
November 3, 2008 (9:17 AM):
Victor is on a plane heading to the United States. He can't wait to get home. He will be arriving today.
November 1, 2008 (7:55 AM):
If all goes well, Victor will be arriving home Monday, November 3. He has his passport, tickets and all Kazakh legal paperwork has been arranged. Hopefully all goes well. When he gets back, he is planning to lecture about his experiences.
October 31, 2008 (9:37 AM):
I apologize for not posting updates yesterday. But a lot has happened since (and this is a quick explanation, the whole explanation is mind boggling). The judge in the case has waived Victor's appeals period, releasing his passport. He changed his tickets for a return trip Monday and proceeded to the Immigration Office to have his VISA extended, which would allow him to leave. They promptly took his passport and are currently refusing to return it. Their first excuse was they he needed to wait for the 15 day appeals period to expire. When his lawyer and judge showed that he didn't, they then changed their mind and wanted him to pay his fine (even though the money to pay the fine was still being held and will only be released after the 15 day period and the fine could have been paid by his lawyer).
On short notice he scrambled and with the help of several doctorate students, scrounging their savings, he came up with the $2000 in short notice. The $2000 will be returned to the students by his lawyer when the money is released after the 15 day period. The fine is paid and they are still not sure if they will issue the VISA. Victor is hoping to get told tomorrow morning, he is hopeful.
October 29, 2008 (11:18 AM):
Victor is still trying to find a way to reduce the 15 day waiting period. The judge will release his paperwork as soon as he pays his fines. However he can't pay the fines until they release the money they confiscated. He is going to talk with the people that "have his money" to see if they will release it early. He is optimistic that they will. He has spent some time writing and you can get another supplement to the "Hostage Diary" here. There is another newspaper article in Kazakhstan which which Victor found particularly interesting and translated titled "Is There Justice in Kazakhstan?" which is a very interesting read.
October 28, 2008 (11:10 AM):
Calling Victor this morning was quite a challenge. He had turned his cellphone off because he was being interviewed by a national Kazakh television station. He was told that he will be getting the interview on CD and promises a translation. Last night an interview was on FOX 40 (WICZ) with Victor. You can see video of it here. Marina from the Binghamton University Pipe Dream also had an interview with him last evening. We look forward to the article. Meanwhile, he has been translating local newspaper coverage and promises to make that available. He is looking forward to coming home, counting down the days.
October 27, 2008 (12:00 PM):
Victor is feeling much better. When he gets home we will find out if there is any permanent damage due to his lack of medications, but for the time being he says he is feeling "normal". He had an interview with FOX40 in Binghamton this morning. I am expecting that they will be having some coverage on him in the near future. He has been in contact with several people in hopes to appeal the ruling while he is not in the country. It looks promising.
October 26, 2008 (6:00 PM):
Victor is feeling better now that he has the actual medication that he needs, other than the counterfeit medications which he had to purchase in Kazakhstan. Apparently counterfeit medications are quite common there. For those interested, here is a discussion on Kazakhstan from the Overseas Security Advisory Council describing Kazakhstan and things to be aware of before traveling.
In the meantime, Victor has promised to write a description of the trial procedure and comment on his general feelings at that time. I will post this when he sends it to me. Tomorrow is a holiday in Kazakhstan. He hopes to talk with people on Tuesday to see if he can get the 15 day waiting period reduced.
October 25, 2008 (12:00 PM):
I spoke with Victor for quite a while this morning. He was in fair spirits, relieved that the trial was over, however still upset with the ruling. On a good note though, he has received medication. The medication made it to him despite the lack of help (other than lip service) from the US Government and its representatives (keep this in mind if you travel abroad, it seems that the aides to the various political leaders are very concerned, but it appears that there is nothing that can be done, even if you are close to death from lack of proper medication). We are hoping that his condition has not degraded and that the medication is all that is needed, fingers crossed.
He is working in Kazakhstan to find a way to reduce the 15 day waiting period and is still discussing with his attorney if there is any recourse on the ruling.
October 24, 2008 (11:24 AM):
Victor just called and we talked for a short period of time. He, his lawyers, his friends in Kazakhstan and the Consul at the American Consulate are very upset and distressed with the ruling. They did not expect it to go this badly. Victor has indicated that he will write something detailing the trial process and procedure and send it to me. As soon as I get it I will post it to this site. He is also going to attempt to get as much documentation from the court proceeding that is possible for display. As I receive this documentation, it, along with translation will be provided on this website.
October 24, 2008 (10:45 AM):
Victor Skormin was found guilty of currency smuggling in Kazakhstan earlier today. The monies exceeding $3000 were confiscated, he was fined an additional $2000 and the court required him to pay $1000 in court fees. This totals to near the amount he had with him at the time he attempted to leave the country. This ruling is despite several documents showing the legal origin of the money and several customs officers procedural violations. His is discussing any remaining options with his attorney.
It is important to realize that the standards of justice in Kazakhstan are significantly different than the standards of justice within the United States. After the many discussions that I have had with him, this may have been the result which will most likely result his quickest return to the United States. Since, besides prison, this is the maximum sentence that could have been issued, the Prosecution will most likely not appeal the ruling. He still must remain in the country for 15 days for the ruling to take effect and to allow time for possible appeals by both the prosecution and the defense. Now that "justice has been done" and we have allowed the Kazakh legal system to work, we urge the Kazakh judge to waive the appeals period and allow Victor to return home to the care of his doctors sooner than 15 days. Please continue the help contacting the University Administration supporting Victor and your various government representatives to ask the Kazakh government to hurry the waiting period so that we can have him home as quickly as possible in the care of his doctors.
October 23, 2008 (7:33 PM) The faculty senate issued a letter of support for Victor.
October 23, 2008 (2:01 PM) Pat Hart has just created a facebook group Bring Victor Home. I urge all to join. I just got off the phone with Victor. He is worried and nervous about what will happen tomorrow. He indicated that the judge was trying to figure out how to handle the case; not to make it too long a trial or too short a trial. He and his lawyer are wondering why it does not appear that the United States (other than a couple of nice letters from the University) wants him back. It is his and his attorney's belief that significant amounts of publicity and action by US politicians would ease the judicial process over there. The Kazakh society is based upon the old Soviet style society where posture and press is very important, which is why, for example, long glowing letters help.
October 23, 2008 - Victor's health remains stable. The prosecution's witnesses showed today allowing the trial to continue. A continuation of the trial is expected tomorrow morning at 9:30 KZ time (+10 hours from EDT). His spirits were down as he is expecting to have to remain in the country for the entire two week appeal process. We are hopeful that the prosecution does not appeal any ruling.
October 22, 2008 - Victor's trial has been delayed to Thursday October 23, 2008. The witnesses for the prosecution failed to show, causing the delay. This can potentially take two months to resolve.