American authorities are considering the extradition to Russia of her citizens from the Guantanamo airbase, Cuba, according to Igor Tkachev of the Russian Prosecutor-Generalâs office. He said the future of the eight Russian taken prisoners in the course of the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan had been discussed during his meetings in the United States with members of the Pentagon criminal investigation group at the Fort Bellevoir military base located in a suburb of Washington. According to Tkachev, the United States is ready in principle to extradite the Russians and even transport them to Russia. âThere is agreement in principle that our citizens must be made responsible in our territory even for the crimes they committed beyond the boundaries of Russia,â said he.
Tkachev was not clear about when the extradition would take place because, he said, the investigation into each personâs case was not yet over. As regards the status of the detainees, the Americans regard them as âenemiesâ who pose a threat to the countryâs security. The representative of the Prosecutor-Generalâs Office said the American side had handed over to the Russian officials nearly 100 pages of documents related to the involvement of the arrested men in illegally armed formations. The Russian law-enforcement agencies, which are conducting a parallel probe into the cases, will study the American documents concerning the men who are charged in Russia with participation in a criminal community, illegal crossing of the border and having served as mercenaries. These crimes are punishable in Russia by prison terms of two to ten years. The Russian investigators have established that before appearing in Afghanistan, two or three men from the aforementioned group spent time in Chechnya. On the whole, Mr. Tkachev expressed satisfaction with the way the Russian and American investigators were interacting. âThe Americans are showing interest in cooperation,â said he. |