AP World Politics
British government authorizes start of extradition proceedings against Chechen
separatist
By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer
LONDON - The British government said Friday it had authorized the start of extradition
proceedings against a Chechen separatist sought by Russia for mass murder.
The Home Office said it had given the courts authority to hear the Russian case
against Akhmed Zakayev, an aide to Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov.
Russian Justice Minister Yuri Chaika said the decision showed "our message has
gotten through." "Britain has understood that terrorists cannot be one's own
or someone else's," he told the Interfax news agency in Moscow.
But the decision angered Zakayev's supporters, who include Oscar-winning
actress Vanessa Redgrave. "A profound injustice has been done to the Chechen
people. An injustice should not be done to their political representatives,"
said Redgrave, who attended Zakayev's hearing at a London court Friday.
Russian authorities have compared Zakayev to Osama bin Laden and say he
was a senior Chechen rebel military commander who helped kill at least
300 Russian security personnel.
His supporters say Zakayev is a peace negotiator and a minister in the government
of Maskhadov, who was elected president of Chechnya in 1997.
He denies the charges against him. "I would like to say how grateful I am to
the British court system, the Home Office and the Russian prosecutors,"
Zakayev said through a translator outside Bow Street Magistrates Court
Friday. "The case going through the courts gives us the opportunity to
show people how things really stand."
At a brief court hearing, Judge Timothy Workman ordered Zakayev to attend a
hearing on Feb. 14, when the court will set a timetable for the months-long
extradition process. Workman ruled that Zakayev, who has been in Britain
for almost two months, could remain free on bail.
Zakayev was arrested in Denmark at Russia's request on Oct. 30 after a Chechen
conference that angered Moscow. At the time, Danish officials said Russia had
evidence linking Zakayev to October's siege by Chechen rebels at a Moscow
theater, in which more than 100 theatergoers and all 41 hostage-takers
died.
After detaining Zakayev for more than a month, Danish officials released him,
saying Russian authorities had provided insufficient evidence. Zakayev
flew to Britain on Dec. 5. He was detained at Heathrow airport, but released
the next day after Redgrave posted 50,000 pounds (US$78,500) bail.
Redgrave said the British government should have recognized the Danish authorities'
decision not to extradite Zakayev, but said she was confident the court would
reject Russia's extradition request.
The Russian government says it is battling terrorists in Chechnya, while the
rebels say they are fighting for independence from Moscow. Fighting in the republic
has been long and brutal. Russian forces withdrew from Chechnya
in 1996 after rebels fought them to a standstill in a 20-month war, but
swept in again in 1999 after Chechnya-based insurgents entered neighboring
Dagestan and after 300 people died in apartment bombings that officials
blamed on the rebels.
Zakayev said evidence would emerge during his case to prove the rebels were
innocent of the apartment blasts. "The Chechens stand accused of this
crime," he said. "The Chechens are innocent of this crime."
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In an interview published
Friday in the Russian newspaper Kommersant, Zakayev said there was no legal
basis for extraditing him to Russia. "If the Home Office launches extradition
procedures, this can only regarded as a political decision," he told the daily.
He warned that extraditing him to Russia would send the wrong signal about the
West's attitude toward alleged Russian human rights abuses in the Chechen war.
"If Britain takes the decision to extradite me to Russia, this will be a sign
that Europe is in solidarity with Russian methods in Chechnya," he said. /The
Associated Press/
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Webauthor's comment: We remind the reader that the extradition to Russia of a Chechen, especially a prominent figure as Zakayev, means almost certainly that he will be tortured to death. Independently from the fact that no convincing proof of his involvement in terror acts have been put forward so far, and forgetting even the fact that the Danish Justice Ministry dismissed Russian's "information" as "insufficient and unconvincing" releasing him, whatever charges one has pending, a civilized democratic country simply can't hand him over to the torture chamber. Great Britain is doing its best to show that it is not.