IN RELATION TO THE GRANTING TO A NUMBER OF RUSSIAN CITIZENS OF "REFUGEE STATUS" IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

Unofficial translation from Russian

PRESS RELEASE

On October 7 a London magistrate court dismissed the extradition case against a Russian citizen, Yuly Dubov, accused in our country of fraud under aggravating circumstances (Article 147, Part 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Several days before that the UK Home Secretary had granted him "refugee status." In September similar decisions were taken in regard to Boris Berezovsky, facing a charge in the same case.

This has occurred despite the repeated argued requests from the Russian Prosecutor General's Office for the extradition of those persons, addressed to the relevant British authorities. It is of fundamental importance that the British side had made it known that it was fully satisfied with the factological, legal and inculpatory bases of the documents submitted. Moreover, the same Home Secretary had previously been refusing to grant asylum to Berezovsky.

Under the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of July 28, 1951, neither Boris Berezovsky nor Yuly Dubov can be classified as "refugees" since they are being charged in a criminal case that has no political hidden motive. They must be extradited to the country in which they committed their crimes, on the basis of the European Convention on Extradition of December 13, 1957.

As to the assertions of the British authorities that upon return to Russia these persons might be subjected to an "unjustified prosecution," they look strange to say the least of it, considering the guarantees given by the Russian side of the examination of their cases in full accordance with the law.

The purposeful concealing of Boris Berezovsky and Yuly Dubov on British territory, just as the delaying of the extradition case against Ahmed Zakayev, charged under 13 articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, including terrorism and murders, cannot but inflict harm upon the Russian-British partnership, for these steps can only be qualified as unfriendly and contrary to the logic of positive development of relations between our countries that has been noted in recent years.

October 8, 2003