Extradition from Britain to Russia—Alexandr Temerko

Alexandr Temerko, a former executive of Yukos, will not be extradited to Russia from the United Kingdom.^[1] Last week, when we first mentioned Mr. Temerko, we noted that a Council of Europe representative testified that Mr. Temerko would not be given a fair trial because he would be politically persecuted.

British Judge Timothy Workman—who is also overseeing the extradition hearing for Haroon Rashid Aswat, as well as other cases we have mentioned—stated that he was “satisfied that the request for the extradition of Mr. Temerko is to prosecute and punish him for his political views.”^[2] Furthermore, he found the testimony of the witnesses who “have all concluded it is highly unlikely if not impossible for Mr. Temerko to receive a fair trial,” to be “accurate and compelling.”^[3]

The Russians, for their part, somewhat insinuate bad things about Judge Workman. The Russian news source, RIA Novosti, noted that Judge Workman “presided over the extradition trials of Chechen separatist emissary Akhmed Zakayev in 2003, Russian fugitive oligarch Boris Berezovsky and businessman Yuly Dubov in the same year, and former Yukos managers Natalia Chernysheva and Dmitry Maruyev this March. Extradition was denied in all the cases.”^[4]

Russia has had little success is recent months securing the extradition of its countrymen from other countries. One high-profile example of this is Yevgeny Adamov, whose extradition to the United States from Switzerland was approved in October, even though Russia’s request was made first. At the time of that decision, the Vice Chairman of the Duma Security Committee in Russia stated that “Switzerland does not trust our judiciary system.”^[5]

Mr. Temerko was discharged and Russia now has 14 days to appeal the decision.^[6]

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[1] Russian Oil Manager Won’t Be Extradited, Reuters, Dec. 23, 2005.
[2] Id.
[3] UK Court Bars Extradition for Former Yukos Official, CNN.com, Dec. 23, 2005.
[4] London Court Denies Russia Extradition of Yukos Official, RIA Novosti, Dec. 23, 2005.
[5] U.S. Needs Adamov as Information Source – Duma Deputy, Interfax.com, Oct. 3, 2005.
[6] Jane Wardell, Court Bars Extradition of Ex-Yukos Exec, Associated Press, Dec. 23, 2005.