Berezovsky Reason for Russia-Britain Conflict

The deliberate concealment of Boris Berezovsky and Yuly Dubov in Great Britain, the prolongation of the extradition case connected with Chechen envoy Akhmed Zakayev (Russia has brought terrorism and deliberate murder charges against Zakayev) cannot but cause damage to the Russia-British partnershipThese steps can only be described as unfriendly. They contradict the positive development logic of relations between Russia and Great Britain that has been achieved in recent years.

This was said by the department of information and press of the Russian Foreign Ministry. The statement said Bow Street magistrates court in London closed the case about Yury Dubov's extradition to Russia on October 7th. Dubov has been charged with severe fraud activities. The British home secretary granted him refugee status several days before that. British authorities made the same decision regarding notorious Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky in September.

These events have happened despite repeated and well-grounded inquiries from the Russian Office of the Prosecutor General. Yet, British officials said, they were absolutely satisfied with the legal base of the submitted documents. Moreover, the British home secretary has rejected Boris Berezovsky's petition for political asylum before.

"Under the terms of the Geneva Convention of July 28 1951 on the status of refugeesm, neither Boris Berezovsky nor Yury Dubov can be described as refugees since their cases are totally without political grounds. They should be extradited to the country where they have committed crimes, according to the European convention on extradition of December 13th, 1957," the statement from the Russian foreign ministry said.

British officials affirm that both Berezovsky and Dubov can be subjected to ungrounded persecution. "Such an affirmation looks at the very least strange, taking into consideration Russia's guarantees to consider Berezovsky's and Dubov's cases in strict conformity with the law," the statement says.