Russia, Ukraine may ask London to extradite Berezovsky - Russian deputy prosecutor general
MOSCOW. Jan 10 (Interfax) - The Russian Prosecutor General's Office may send another extradition request for businessman Boris Berezovsky to the United Kingdom upon verification of facts presented in a film on the Rossiya channel.
"I think this information (about planning a terror act in Kyiv) would be of interest to law enforcement agencies in Russia and Ukraine. We are ready to send another request to extradite Berezovsky from London if that is necessary. Both the Russian Prosecutor General's Office and the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office may send the request," Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Zvyagintsev said in an interview to be published in the Friday issue of Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
"Unfortunately, the UK has a reputation as a safe harbor for persons prosecuted by Russia. There is no extradition from the banks of the Thames, and the number of "inmates" is growing there. Three more persons added last year, and 25 people, among them notorious Berezovsky, Zakayev, Dubov and Temerko, are now hiding in the fogs of Albion. Requests for the extradition of 15 fugitives have been under British consideration since 2008," he said.
Yet "we cannot say they are doing nothing," the deputy prosecutor general said. "For instance, late last year the London High Court levied more than 5 billion rubles on former Sovcomflot heads Skarge, Nikitin and their abettors who stole more than 26 billion rubles from the state company and took refuge in London," Zvyagintsev said.
Asked about possible resettlement of Berezovsky to Israel for avoiding extradition to Russia, the official said, "We have attained the extradition of some persons accused of grave crimes. For instance, Israel extradited Yeremenko, who was accused of sexual abuse of a child younger than 14," he said.
In the words of Zvyagintsev, "that was the third extradition request from Russia met by Israel within the past four years, which might be considered a token of further successful cooperation between our states although plenty of problems remain."
The deputy prosecutor general also spoke of the U.S. Magnitsky Act. "In short, I view this act as legal outrage by the United States. It is a far cry from Montesquieu, from the principle of division of power," he said.
In the opinion of Zvyagintsev, "U.S. congressmen entrusted their president with the right to pronounce guilty citizens of another state and to subject them to sanctions without a trial or an investigation."
"By the way, the West is impeding the Russian investigation of criminal cases related to Magnitsky. The Prosecutor General's Office has sent four inquiries to the British Home Office requesting legal assistance in the case of British subject of U.S. descent W.F. Browder, the head of the Hermitage Capital fund. I can remind you that everything started with the accusation of Browder and Magnitsky, a person in his employ, of evasion of 522 million ruble in taxes through falsification of tax declarations and illegal use of benefits granted to people with disabilities. Magnitsky was arrested and died at a detention facility; investigation of his death continued while Browder urgently moved to London. The denial of our request was explained with the opinion of the British state secretary that sovereignty, security, public order or other significant interests of the UK might be damaged if the requests were upheld. No more, no less: criminal prosecution of tax crimes in Russia is a threat to the UK," the Russian prosecutor said.
"Such denials are mere disrespect for partners or a way to accentuate bad relations with certain states," he said.
"Complications are possible in the relations with any foreign country; life is life," Zvyagintsev said. "Yet they frequently derive from politicization of legal cooperation issues or a biased attitude. This is particularly obvious in the question of extradition from such countries as the UK and the U.S. Since 2007, America has denied 13 extraditions under the pretext of the absence of an extradition agreement. We insistently offer to sign this agreement, but all we get is unconvincing formulas of denial. The U.S. has not given an answer to our five requests filed in 2011-2012. Why bother declaring the "reset" and anti-crime cooperation?" a head of the supervisory agency wondered.
