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Thursday, 13 November 2003
BRITISH COURT THROWS OUT RUSSIAN REQUEST TO EXTRADITE CHECHEN OFFICIAL
By empty (11/13/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)
A London magistrates\' court rejected on 13 November a demand by the Russian Prosecutor-General\'s Office for the extradition of Akhmed Zakaev, vice premier in Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov\'s government, British media reported. Judge Timothy Workman said there is \"a substantial risk\" that Zakaev would be subjected to torture if he were sent back to Russia to face what are widely regarded as fabricated charges of terrorism, hostage taking, and murder. The Russian Prosecutor-General\'s Office condemned the court decision as an example of \"double standards,\" while Russian presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembskii described it as an attempt to justify terrorism.
A London magistrates\' court rejected on 13 November a demand by the Russian Prosecutor-General\'s Office for the extradition of Akhmed Zakaev, vice premier in Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov\'s government, British media reported. Judge Timothy Workman said there is \"a substantial risk\" that Zakaev would be subjected to torture if he were sent back to Russia to face what are widely regarded as fabricated charges of terrorism, hostage taking, and murder. The Russian Prosecutor-General\'s Office condemned the court decision as an example of \"double standards,\" while Russian presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembskii described it as an attempt to justify terrorism. (Interfax)