The Russian Federation is within its legal rights to refuse the extradition of Andrei Lugovoy even though it has signed up to extradition arrangements under the Council of Europe.

The decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions that Mr Lugovoy should be charged with murder was met with an immediate and negative response from sources within the prosecuting authorities in Russia.

Sources in the Office of the Prosecutor-General pointed out that under their constitution they did not extradite their own nationals. They should be tried, if anywhere, in Russia.

There is no bilateral extradition treaty between Britain and the Russsian Federation; and although in 2001 the federation signed up to the extradition arrangements under the 1957 European Convention on Human Rights, it retains the optout that it need not extradite its own nationals.

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However, a refusal by the Russian authorities would be highly embarrassing, not least because in November the Crown Prosecution Service and the Office of the Prosecutor-General signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation.

Monty Raphael, the head of fraud and regulatory crime at the London law firm Peters & Peters, said that the chances of the federation agreeing to extradite Mr Lugovoy appeared to be nil. Mr Raphael said that the only alternative, if there were a refusal, was for the Crown Prosecution Service to hand over all its evidence to the Russian prosecuting authorities for Mr Lugovoy to be put on trial in his home country.

A Home Office spokesman said that the optout was agreed because otherwise many countries would not have signed up to the extradition arrangements. A series of refusals by British courts to grant extradition of Russian citizens sought by the federation in connection with the Yukos oil scandal indicates doubts about the legal process in the federation, he added.

Contamination
721 People tested and cleared for radiation contamination
17 People tested who had results not significant to cause any short-term illness
673 Foreigners from 52 countries and territories identified as requiring follow-up
3,000 Calls to NHS Direct from people fearing they had been contaminated
12 Venues, including six hotels, two BA jets and offices, visited by Litvinenko at which customers and staff were tested

Source: Health Protection Agency

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