Denmark Denied Russian Extradition Request for Chechen Leader Zakayev and Britain Details and Grants Him Bail

On December 3, 2002, the Danish Government denied a Russian request to extradite Mr. Akhmed Zakayev, a senior Chechen envoy, and freed him after he had spent one month in jail. Right after the decision, Cakayev went to Britain, where he was detained and then granted bail. According to the Danish Justice Ministry, the reason it denied extradition was due to insufficient evidence presented by Russian prosecutors to justify the extradition requests of armed insurrection, murder and kidnaping. Initially Russian prosecutors connected Mr. Zakayev to the siege by Chechen guerrillas in October 2002 of a Moscow theater due partly to the fact he gave interviews to news organizations during the crisis. However, the Danish account said prosecutors interviewed witnesses of the alleged crimes only after Zakayev’s arrest, even though the incidents occurred between 1996 and 1999. The interviews were deficient due to “lack of precision” about the crimes, Mr. Zakayev’s role in them, and their reliance on hearsay evidence. The Russian Government reacted angrily, accusing Denmark of applying different standards in the counter-terrorism efforts. On December 6, 2002, British authorities detained Azakayev and then released him on bail soon after his arrival at London’s Heathrow Airport. British officials said Mr. Zakayev was provisionally arrested at Russia’s request pending a formal extradition demand.