Court rejects Chechen extradition

The court accepted a plea by lawyers for Mr Zakayev that he would not get a fair trial - and could even could face torture - in Russia.

"It would be unjust and oppressive to return Mr Zakayev to Russia," Judge Timothy Workman ruled on Thursday.

Moscow responded by accusing the court of double standards and trying to politicise a criminal case.

Mr Zakayev has been accused of a range of crimes including kidnap, taking part in the murder of Russian soldiers and levying war.

The allegations relate to incidents between October 1995 and December 2000, when Chechnya was fighting for independence.

Mr Zakayev's defenders - who include the actress Vanessa Redgrave - had said the charges were politically motivated and that he would face torture if he was sent to Russia.

The judge at the hearing, Mr Workman of Bow Street Magistrates Court in central London, agreed, quoting evidence of torture given by witnesses.

"I have come to the inevitable conclusion that if the [Russian] authorities are prepared to resort to torturing witnesses, there is a substantial risk that Mr Zakayev would himself be subject to torture," he said.

Amnesty International welcomed the statement.

"The widespread use of torture and ill-treatment by the Russian authorities had given rise to well-based fears for Akhmed Zakayev's physical safety if sent back to Russia," the human rights organisation said.

Third request

But the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office said the court had attempted to find a political overtone in what was a purely criminal case.

"Once again, terrorists are being split into two groups - good terrorists and bad ones," the office said in a statement.

This is the third time in recent months that Britain has turned down a Russian request for the extradition of one of its citizens.

The wealthy businessman, Boris Berezovsky, and his business associate Yuly Dubov recently had their extradition cases thrown out, and both were granted political asylum.

BBC Russian affairs analyst Stephen Dalziel says it is not clear whether these cases will have a negative effect on the generally positive relations between London and Moscow.

Mr Zakayev has acted as a representative of Aslan Maskhadov, the rebel leader who considers himself president of Chechnya.

A pro-Moscow candidate, Akhmed Kadyrov, was elected Chechen president in an October vote that was condemned by observers and rejected by the rebels.

Judge rejects bid to extradite Chechen rebel leader

Staff and agencies Thursday November 13, 2003 The Guardian

A British judge today rejected Russia's request for the extradition of Chechen rebel leader Akhmed Zakayev, saying that it was politically motivated. Senior district judge Timothy Workman, delivering his verdict at Bow Street magistrates court, said he had found that Russia was "seeking extradition for the purposes of prosecuting Mr Zakayev on account of his political opinions".

He said that it would be "unjust and oppressive" to return Mr Zakayev to Russia to face trial.

Mr Workman quoted one witness as saying that "Chechens are almost always tortured". He added he believed the evidence of another witness who testified that he had been tortured into signing a statement against Mr Zakayev.

"I have come to the inevitable conclusion that if the [Russian] authorities are prepared to resort to torturing witnesses, there is a substantial risk that Mr Zakayev would himself be subject to torture," he said.

Russia has charged Mr Zakayev, 44, who was chief negotiator for the last elected Chechen president, Aslan Maskhadov, with 13 offences.

They include membership of an armed Chechen group, taking part in a firing squad, torturing a suspected informer and kidnapping two Orthodox priests. Mr Zakayev denies the charges. The former actor and culture minister went underground after Russia sent troops to the Chechen capital, Grozny, in 1999.

He was later arrested in Copenhagen, but the Danish justice ministry freed him, saying that Russia's charges against him were not sufficiently grounded in fact.

He was again arrested after flying from Denmark to London in December 2002. Britain took the tougher line of agreeing to put the matter before a court.

Mr Zakayev was released on bail when the Oscar-winning actor Vanessa Redgrave paid his £50,000 surety, a move that brought the case wide public attention.

Ms Redgrave described Mr Zakayev as a highly-respected actor in his home state, "not a warlord and not a terrorist". In Russia, officials have likened him to terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

As she emerged from court with Mr Zakayev, Ms Redgrave said: "It is the greatest victory for the Chechen people, and for Akhmed Zakayev, and for all the Russian people who fought for the truth of the situation. It is a great victory." The pair were then driven away in a Mercedes.

Amnesty International also welcomed today's ruling, saying in a statement: "The widespread use of torture and ill-treatment by the Russian authorities had given rise to well-based fears for Akhmed Zakayev's physical safety if sent back to Russia.

"Torture and mistreatment in Russian police cells are common and, as the representative of Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov, Mr Zakayev would have been particularly vulnerable.

"In the last two years, two high-profile Chechen prisoners have died shortly after beginning prison terms, and Amnesty International has called for independent investigations into their deaths in custody.

"Moreover, in light of the inadequacies of the Russian criminal justice system, we are concerned that Akhmed Zakayev would not have been given a fair trial in the Russian federation.

"There has also been a highly disturbing claim from an extradition witness alleging that he had been tortured into providing accounts to support the Russian federation's extradition bid.

"This allegation should be independently investigated by the Russian authorities."

Chechnya has been wracked by violence for the last decade. Russian forces withdrew from the region after the brutal 1994-1996 war that left separatists in charge, but returned in 1999 after Chechnya-based militants invaded a neighbouring region.

The Kremlin blamed the rebels for apartment building bombings in which 300 people were killed.

Chechen rebel's extradition bid rejected Thu 13 November, 2003 12:40

"It would be unjust and oppressive to return Mr Zakayev to Russia." Judge Timothy Workman

By Peter Graff

LONDON (Reuters) -

A judge has rejected Russia's bid to extradite Chechen rebel leader Akhmed Zakayev, saying it was politically motivated.

In a scathing indictment of the Russian criminal justice system, Judge Timothy Workman said on Thursday he had found Moscow was "seeking extradition for the purposes of prosecuting Mr Zakayev on account of his political opinions."

"I am satisfied that, more likely than not, the motivation of the government of the Russian Federation was and is to exclude Mr Zakayev from continuing to take part in the peace process and to discredit him as a moderate," Workman said.

Russia had sought his extradition on 13 counts including murder, kidnapping and soliciting others to murder during the war in the breakaway region.

But Judge Workman, giving his ruling in London's Bow Street Magistrates' Court, said he believed Zakayev might be tortured if he returned to Russia.

"It would be unjust and oppressive to return Mr Zakayev to Russia," he said.

After emerging victorious, Zakayev said he "unconditionally" viewed the ruling as a political victory.

"I will continue to seek peace for the Chechen people," he told Reuters.

Russian forces drove most of Chechnya's pro-independence guerrillas into the mountains in the first few months of the latest conflict after President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops back into a region they had quit in defeat in 1987.

But they have failed to restore peace and still fall prey to frequent guerrilla attacks. Moscow has not issued casualty figures for its forces in Chechnya since last December, when it said more than 4,500 had died since hostilities resumed in late 1999.

The judge on Thursday said the Russians had argued that the events in Chechnya were not a war and therefore killing their soldiers was murder.

But he added: "I have taken into account the scale of the fighting, the intense carpet-bombing of (the capital) Grozny with in excess of 100,000 casualties...I was unable to accept the view expressed by one witness that the actions of the Russian government in bombing Grozny were counter-terrorist operations"

Judge Workman said: "I have come to the inevitable conclusion that if the authorities are prepared to resort to torturing witnesses, there is a substantial risk that Mr Zakayev would himself be subject to torture"

The judge quoted one witness as saying: "Chechens are almost always tortured" and said he believed the evidence of another witness who testified that he had been held in a pit for six days and tortured with electric shocks to force him to make a statement against Zakayev.

That witness's evidence was "clear, unequivocal and unshaken by cross-examination," the judge concluded.

2003-11-13 17:20    

PUTIN'S AIDE ACCUSES BRITISH JUSTICE OF DOUBLE STANDARDS

MOSCOW, November 13, RIA Novosti correspondent - British judiciary has a rather strange, and, putting it mildly, selective view of justice. This was how Russian Presidential Aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky commented on the London Court ruling against the extradition of Akhmed Zakayev, emissary of Chechen separatists in Europe.

"This decision can be seen not only as a relapse into the double standards policy characteristic of the "cold war" period, but as an attempt to justify terrorism by using pompous wording which mean nothing," Yastrzhembsky believes.

"No one is prosecuted for their politics in Russia," the presidential aide assured.

The Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London refused to extradite Chechen emissary Zakayev to Russia. Judge Timothy Workman's conclusion was that it would be "unfair" to send him [Zakayev] back to Russia.

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY CRITICIZES DANISH FOREIGN MINISTER'S STATEMENTS ON CHECHNYA

MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 12 (RIA NOVOSTI) - The Russian Foreign Ministry criticizes the utterances of Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller on Chechnya in connection with the recent Russian-European Union summit.

"His positioning himself as the main critic of 'Russia's actions against its own nationals in Chechnya' is not surprising: such problems are the long-time hobby of Mr.Moller," reads the commentary of the Press and Information Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"Another thing is surprising: according to the Danish minister, it turns out that Copenhagen voices the EU policy in the Chechen question. One may wonder whether the European Union knows about this 'distribution of duties'?" the commentary says.

In this connection, the Russian Foreign Ministry recalls that bilateral relations have passed serious tests.

"It has turned out that the sides share a mutual desire to turn over the page, reinvigorate contacts. These declarations of the head of the Danish foreign policy establishment provide serious grounds to doubt the sincerity of Copenhagen's intentions," reads the document.

Russia is open for dialogue with Denmark as regards the processes going on in Chechnya for the purpose of overcoming the stereotypes rooted in the conscience of this part of the Danish establishment and the distorted idea about the real state of affairs in that member of the Russian Federation, stresses the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Russian foreign policy establishment also hopes for the consistency of the Danish authorities in the struggle against different manifestations of international terrorism.

"It is an open secret that that country is a favorite place of comfortable residence for people maintaining contacts with Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups," reads the commentary of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Thursday, 13 November 2003

It became known that the Chechen refugees living in the "Azul" camp for displaced people in Treiskirchen, Austria, receive outrage on the part of the Austrian authorities. People, in a literal sense, are thrown out in the street and have to spend nights and days in the cold autumn rain. It should be noted that among the refugees there are children, women and the sick.

According to our information, children under 12 years of age only are allowed to spend night in the camp. Other children are not let in the territory of the camp, they are left in the street - to be out of bed in the damp under foot. As to the sick whose number swiftly increases, they are deprived even of elementary medical aid.

Our indignation is caused with the fact that the Austrian authorities, contacting with the migration services of France, Germany and other European countries, notify them about their readiness to receive the Chechen refugees without any restrictions. But when the Chechen refugees arrive in Austria, they are left to the mercy of fate beyond the limits of the camp and deprived of any means of existence.

The situation is very serious and requires immediate interference of all Chechen information editions to inform the international community and, first of all, the international human rights and humanitarian organizations, about the tragic fate of the Chechen refugees in Austria. All interested persons, editions and organizations can communicate with the Chechen refugees in Austria.

The contact telephone: 00436641708748

Chechenpress.

2003-11-12 23:28