Extradition from the UK to Russia—New Team

As we have detailed a number of times before, Russia is usually unsuccessful when it seeks the extradition of an individual from the UK. Sometimes this is because the individual has been granted asylum, and sometimes it is because the courts fear that the individual will be denied human rights if he is sent to Russia.

To address these concerns, Russia is sending a new prosecution team to the UK “to re-examine extradition cases that Russia lost.”^[1] According to Yuri Chaika, the Russian team will work with UK authorities, and “[i]f somewhere some procedural mechanism of the national legislation failed to work, we have a chance of influencing this mechanism through the [Crown Prosecution Service].”^[2] Most people suspect that Mr. Chaika was referring to Akhmed Zakayev and Boris Berezovsky.^[3]

Mr. Chaika is Russia’s new Prosecutor General, and his comments come after “[a]ll 13 deputy prosecutors general handed their resignations in.”^[4] This is seen as “a formality that allows the new prosecutor general to make personnel changes more freely,” and some believe that “half the prosecutors general would remain in place.”^[5] As Mr. Chaika took the reigns, he stated that “he intended to succeed in the extradition of the ‘criminals’ who Great Britain refuses to deport to Russia”; there are a total of 15 such people, and all of them either have received political asylum or are in the process of obtaining it.^[6] Thus, securing their extradition could remain difficult for Russia because, as British Ambassador to Russian Tony Brenton says, “the extradition of political immigrants is not a political decision and can only be made by a judge.”^[7]

Mr. Chaika, however, seems to be proposing that “a new mechanism for resolving disputes between Russian and foreign justice officials be used for the first time.”^[8] He would not divulge the details of this mechanism, but Mr. Berezovsky hinted that there were other ways to have the individuals extradited. He stated that the “helplessness and lack of professionalism of the Prosecutor General’s Office and other bodies does not allow [Great Britain] to [extradite individuals]. It’s all a cover for combating … political opponents. If Yury Chaika really wants my extradition, I can cooperate and help. I am ready to give him free advice and explain[] how that [can be] done under British law.”^[9]

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[1] Prosecutors to Review Extradition Cases in UK, AP (via the Guardian), Jun. 28, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Alek Akhundov et al., Washing Out the Uniforms, Kommersant, Jun. 28, 2006.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Russian Justice Officials to Fly to London for Extradition Talks, RIA Novosti, Jun. 27, 2006.
[9] Akhundov, supra note 4.