[lbo-talk] PUTIN WAGS A FINGER AT EUROPE

[Michael Givel]

PUTIN WAGS A FINGER AT EUROPE (Russia)
6/7/2006- President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday took issue with Britain for 
granting asylum to a senior Chechen rebel and scolded Europeans for ignoring 
neo-Nazi marches and violations of the rights of ethnic Russians in Baltic 
countries. While Putin did not explicitly cite Britain, the target of his 
criticism was clear. "It is difficult for us to explain the refusal of 
certain countries to extradite those suspected of being implicated in 
terrorism, not to mention granting them political asylum," Putin said in a 
speech at the seventh session of the Conference of Prosecutors General of 
Europe at the President Hotel. "In such cases," Putin said, "the 
corresponding international agreements should be followed precisely and 
unfailingly." Forty-four prosecutors, including British Attorney General 
Peter Goldsmith, attended the conference, which was organized by the Council 
of Europe and was expected to include discussion of wrongly prosecuted 
suspects, witnesses, juveniles and prisoners. Russian authorities have been 
infuriated with British officials for granting asylum to Chechen rebel envoy 
Akhmed Zakayev, who is wanted in Russia on suspicion of murder and 
kidnapping. Earlier this week, Russia refused a visa to Tom de Waal, a 
former Moscow Times correspondent from Britain who wrote extensively on 
Chechnya and was an expert witness for the defense at Zakayev's 2003 
extradition trial in London. Responding to Putin's remarks, the British 
Embassy in Moscow sought to distance the British government from Zakayev's 
case. "As we have said many times, extradition in the United Kingdom is a 
matter for the independent legal system, not for the government," an embassy 
spokesman said. "It is not a political decision. It is taken on legal 
grounds, in line with the U.K.'s international obligations."

Putin also warned Europeans against using human rights issues as an 
instrument for putting pressure on Russia. The president scolded foreign 
officials for permitting Nazi demonstrations in a Council of Europe member 
state, referring to an annual march in Latvia commemorating Nazi Germany's 
Waffen SS. Latvia has come under fire from Russia for seeking to 
marginalize, politically and legally, its substantial Russian minority. "It 
is difficult for us to understand why in some countries officials turn a 
blind eye to the violations of the rights of Russian-speaking citizens," 
Putin said. "Why do they break up anti-fascist demonstrations but ignore 
marches of former Nazis? The fight against all manifestations of Nazism is 
the direct responsibility of every state." Yury Chaika, recently appointed 
the prosecutor general, said the main function of his office was protecting 
individual rights. Chaika used the conference to boast of his 
accomplishments since taking office less than a month ago. Oddly, Chaika 
then turned to the tenure of his predecessor, Vladimir Ustinov, noting that 
from 2001 to 2005, the Prosecutor General's Office investigated nearly 6 
million complaints from citizens claiming rights violations during criminal 
prosecution or court proceedings. "Almost 1.5 million of the complaints had 
grounds for the prosecutors to interfere, and the citizens' rights were 
restored," Chaika said.

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