Russian author says victim of anti-Georgia hysteria

MOSCOW, Oct 6 (Reuters) One of Russia's best-selling novelists said today that tax police were investigating him because his Georgian surname made him a target in the Kremlin's campaign against its ex-Soviet neighbour.

Grigory Chkhartishvili -- known to the thousands of fans of his detective novels by his nom de plume Boris Akunin -- said police tax crimes inspectors had made an unexpected visit to his publishers this week and demanded details of his income.

He told Reuters he believed the tax checks were directly linked to Russian economic sanctions against Georgia that have seen Georgian-owned businesses in Moscow shut and Georgian immigrants deported to their homeland.

''This is state-wide hysteria taken to absurd levels,'' he said in a telephone interview.

Chkhartishvili's name is typically Georgian and he was born in Georgia. But he has lived in Russia since he was two years old. His novels are hugely popular in Russia and one, ''Turkish Gambit,'' was made into a hit film last year.

The tax police who called on his publisher's office ''are interested only in me and no one else. They made no secret about that,'' he said.

''I am one of the highest-paid authors in Russia ... and that is not a secret. All this time the tax inspectors never came near me ... And then, suddenly, this tax crimes directorate suddenly (gets interested in my affairs.)'' The economic crimes department of the Moscow police could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Georgians live in Russia.

Many are academics, businessmen, artists and showbusiness performers. Tbilisi said today the measures against Georgians in Russia were ''ethnic cleansing.'' Chkhartishvili said he was not worried about the tax investigation because he had done nothing wrong.

''That doesn't matter. It's what is happening to this country that worries me,'' he said.

REUTERS DKB RN2048