Britain has directly challenged Russia’s insistence that its Constitution bans extradition of the man who is suspected over the murder of the dissident former spy Alexander Litvinenko.
Sir Anthony Brenton, the British Ambassador in Moscow, said yesterday that Russia could get around the prohibition if it wanted to cooperate in bringing Andrei Lugovoy to trial. Mr Lugovoy is accused of poisoning Litvinenko with radioactive polonium210 at a London hotel in November, but insists that he is innocent.
In comments timed to infuriate the Kremlin, Sir Anthony highlighted sections of the Constitution that are routinely ignored in Russia. His remarks came as Britain prepared to step up pressure on Russia by raising Mr Lugovoy’s extradition at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels today. Russia’s Prosecutor-General is expected to respond by setting out details of the cooperation that it has given Britain in investigating the case. Russia says that Article 61 of its Constitution forbids extradition of citizens to face trial abroad.
It has offered to try Mr Lugovoy in Moscow if Britain presents sufficient evidence, but the Crown Prosecution Service has insisted that the trial should take place in London. Sir Anthony told Interfax and the Kommersantnewspaper that Russia’s Constitution, like those of other countries, was “clearly capable of interpretation in the light of circumstances”.
“For example, it states that economic activities aimed at monopolisation are prohibited (Article 34); that people have the right to choose freely their place of residence in Russia, including in Moscow (Article 27), and that Duma deputies cannot engage in paid work (Article 97),” he said. “We are not asking Russia to violate its Constitution, but to work with us creatively to find a way around this impediment, given the serious and unprecedented nature of this murder. Such cooperation has not been forthcoming.”
Despite the constitutional provisions, Gazprom has a monopoly on gas supplies in Russia, citizens can live in Moscow and other main cities only if they can get a registration certificate, and most deputies in the Duma, Russia’s parliament, have outside business interests. The Constitution also guarantees the right to demonstrate, but police routinely break up opposition marches against President Putin.
Sir Anthony rejected suggestions that Britain had jeopardised relations by expelling four Russian diplomats last week. Moscow expelled four British envoys in retaliation. “It is surprising to me that the Russian authorities do not see their own national interest in putting on trial, in the place where most of the evidence and witnesses are available, a suspected murderer and carrier of highly toxic radioactive substances,” Sir Anthony said.
There was no comparison between this case and the refusal by British courts to extradite the exiled billionaire Boris Berezovsky and the Chechen separatist envoy Akhmed Zakayev to Russia. “It is the Russian Government, not the courts, who have decided not to extradite. It was done not on the basis of the evidence submitted, but on the basis of an alleged constitutional ban without any supporting evidence or desire to work constructively around this issue. And that is unsatisfactory,” Sir Anthony said.
Mr Putin has played down the dispute with Britain as a “mini-crisis”. Sergei Ivanov, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, made clear that the Kremlin was ready to disregard criticism of its behaviour in the West. Mr Ivanov told a pro-government youth camp: “Unfortunately, in our country the entire external world is taken to mean the West alone. This is a great mistake. We have China and India as well. They can hear us and see our points.”
Alexander Shokhin, president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, suggested that the crisis could damage the City of London as Russian companies looked to other stock markets.
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