The Zakayev Case: The Chechen envoy Akhmed Zakayev faces extradition to the Russian Federation

Update: UK Court decides not to extradite Chechen envoy Akhmed Zakayev - 13/11/03

Akhmed Zakayev © AI

“ For the last two years I have been trying to have the situation in the Chechen Republic considered according to international law. Unfortunately, up till now I was not successful. Now, thanks to the extradition request of the Russian prosecution, the situation in Chechnya is finally being considered in London in the light of international law. I think this is a great success.”

Akhmed Zakayev, an envoy of the Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, whose extradition case is being heard at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court in central London.

The siege of Bow Street Magistrates’ Court by international and Russian reporters has resumed again. Media attention has been focused on the proceedings in the court since the beginning of December 2002 after the arrest and subsequent release on bail of Akhmed Zakayev on his arrival in the UK from Copenhagen on 5 December 2002. The Russian authorities, who want to put him on trial, seek his extradition for crimes he allegedly committed in the latter half of the 1990s.

Bow Street Magistrates' Court in central London © AI

Mr Zakayev was first arrested in Denmark, where he attended the World Chechen Congress. The Congress, planned well in advance, took place in the wake of the hostage-taking incident in a Moscow theatre, which left 129 hostages dead. Amnesty International warned against the extradition of Akhmed Zakayev to Russia fearing that he may be tortured or ill-treated there. In December 2002 Denmark's Justice Ministry released Akhmed Zakayev for lack of evidence. On 30 January 2003 the UK Home Secretary, David Blunkett, gave the courts authority to proceed with hearing the Russian extradition request. The hearing started on 9 June 2003 with the Russian government and the defence of Akhmed Zakayev presenting their cases:

The case for the prosecution acting on behalf of the government of the Russian Federation against Akhmed Zakayev

• Murder; encroachment on the life of law enforcement officials in connection with the execution of their official duties;
• banditism (formation and leadership of armed groups, aimed at attacking citizens and organizations)
• wounding and causing grievous bodily harm;
• unlawful detention and false imprisonment;
• criminal activity, terrorist attacks and hostage-taking.

The charges cover the period from December 1995 until January 2000.

The case for the defence of Akhmed Zakayev

• The extradition request is politically motivated. Akhmed Zakayev is being prosecuted because of his Chechen nationality and political opinions as a supporter of Chechen independence, as evidenced by the fact that the extradition request came shortly after the Moscow hostage crisis;
• the prosecution started years after some of the alleged crimes. In the meantime the Russian authorities treated Akhmed Zakayev as a legitimate representative of his government and held peace negotiations with him;
• Akhmed Zakayev has immunity from arrest and prosecution by reason of his status as a government minister;
• Akhmed Zakayev should not be extradited as “he might be prejudiced at his trial or punished, detained or restricted in his personal liberty by reason of his race, religion, nationality or political opinions”.

The defence presented the historic background of the armed conflicts in the Chechen Republic against which Akhmed Zakayev acted and his role in them. The defence argued that the charges were based on fabrication, intimidation and rewriting of history. The defence also listed examples illustrating why Akhmed Zakayev may not receive a fair trial in the Russian Federation and called to the witness stand independent experts on Chechnya and people who are personally acquainted with Akhmed Zakayev’s case.

Astemir Murdalov with some of the letters he has written to the authorities in an attempt to find his son, Zelimkhan, who "disappeared" in Chechnya in January 2001 © Paula Allen

Thomas de Waal, expert on Chechnya, as a journalist and analyst, of more than nine years’ standing, co-author of “Chechnya: A Small Victorious War,” the first full-length book about the war in any language. The book received the James Cameron Award for Outstanding Reporting in 1998.

“ It is important to underline that over the last ten years the Russian federal side has systematically distorted and misrepresented the truth about what has been going on in Chechnya. I have personally witnessed Russian military airplanes in the skies above Grozny in December 1994, when the Russian authorities denied they were there. Several mass killings of Chechens have been covered up or denied, but subsequently confirmed to have occurred”. More

Dr John Russell, expert on the Russo-Chechen conflict, Head of Department of Languages and European Studies, University of Bradford:

“ The timing of the case brought against Akhmed Zakayev demonstrates clearly, in my opinion, that, since the Nord-Ost hostage drama, the Putin Administration has sought to exploit what it sees as a new carte blanche to resolve the conflict on its terms without the compromise required to take the Chechen people along with the peace process. Zakayev represents just such a compromise. The case brought against him, against this background, would appear to be one of political expedience as far as the Russian Government is concerned.” More

Yulii Rybakov, Deputy in the Russian Parliament (the Duma), Chairman of the Sub-Committee for Human Rights in the Duma, actively involved in peace negotiations in Chechnya and the release of hostages since 1993:

“ I am a witness of the war in Chechnya from its start. This is a conflict between two nations; a regional, religious, ethnic conflict in which hundreds of thousands of people have taken part. This is a war between the Russian army and Chechen combatants fighting for independence.” More

Kheda Kungaeva’s parents with photographs of their daughter. Kheda was taken from her home in Tangi-Chu, south of the Chechen capital, Grozny, on 26 March 2000 by Russian soldiers. Her family never saw her alive again © Paula Allen

Andrey Babitsky, a Russian journalist working for Radio Liberty in Prague. He is an expert on Chechnya and himself a victim of ill-treatment while in Russian custody. In 2000, he was detained by Russian soldiers in a “filtration camp” where guards beat him with truncheons and where he heard of torture being carried out:

In 2000 I was taken prisoner by Russian soldiers and was a witness to the torture against prisoners in the ‘filtration’ camp I was kept in. I could hear the cries of people being beaten during interrogation. At one time I heard a woman crying with pain for two and a half hours without stopping; at another – a badly bruised man was thrown into my cell.” More

Alexander Cherkassov, member of the board of the Russian human rights organization “Memorial”, helped in the release of prisoners and hostages during the first Chechen war 1994-96:

“ I have three worries if Akhmed Zakayev is returned to Russia:
1. Investigation of Chechen leaders is accompanied by torture, disappearances and death;
2. I do not think that there can be a fair trial for Akhmed Zakayev;
3. if Akhmed Zakayev is sentenced, he may die in custody like some other Chechen leaders.” More

A Chechen child in a tent used as a school in a camp for internally displaced people, Ingushetia, 2001. The conflict in Chechnya has forced well over 200,000 people, the majority of them women and children, to flee their homes. Many are living in camps that are overcrowded and insanitary. © Paula Allen

Sergei Kovalyov, Deputy in the Russian Duma, former ombudsman for human rights with particular interest in Chechnya:

“ President Vladimir Putin has introduced the so-called managed democracy in Russia and the managed courts are part of this democracy. I can list a number of trials which were not fair and I can point to the tragic fate of several members of the Chechen opposition after their trial.” More

Ivan Rybkin, former speaker of the Russian parliament and secretary of Russia’s Security Council between 1996 and 1998, participant on the Russian side in peace negotiations with the Chechens:

“ The allegations and the persecution of Akhmed Zakayev are politically motivated. Mr Zakayev represents the moderate Chechen opposition and separatism and that is why there’s a wish to remove him from the negotiating process. This is the aim of the war parties on both sides. And they have achieved it – for the last 9 months Akhmed Zakayev was excluded from the peace process. The peace process in essence has been interrupted.” More

The hearing of Akhmed Zakayev’s extradition trial resumes on 30 June 2003 when the Russian Government is expected to present its experts and witnesses.