Translated material
Who will pay for Berezovsky's security?
British MP proposed taking receipts from political emigrants
Political dissidents from Russia living in Britain should be given an “acceptable behavior undertaking” and paid for by the police to ensure their personal safety. This unexpected statement was made on Wednesday in Westminster by Conservative MP Mark Pritchard, who is the chairman of the cross-party lobbying group on Russia in the British Parliament. He acted as a very obvious and unexpected for the Labor government lobbyist for the position of the Russian authorities.The proposal was made as part of a debate on the topic “Relations between Great Britain and Russia”, dedicated to the diplomatic crisis between London and Moscow due to the scandalous “Litvinenko case” . Mr Pritchard said political dissidents granted asylum in the UK must accept special "acceptable behavior obligations" to avoid exposing the British public to security risks from other countries. “If, for example, we can afford to oblige hooligans not to deface the walls of buildings with various graffiti, why can’t we require political dissidents to behave decently? - asked the deputy. “In my view, it is completely unacceptable that certain political dissidents who enjoy our hospitality are calling for the violent overthrow of the democratically elected government in Russia.”
It is not difficult to guess that this passage was about Boris Berezovsky. "The Russian government was democratically elected and it is absolutely wrong to put President Putin in the position of having to hear someone from London calling for his violent overthrow," Mr Pritchard said.
The MP also demanded clarification from the government over Foreign Secretary David Miliband's statement about "ensuring the safety of political dissidents". “Who pays for the safety of those whose lives are at risk? asked Mr. Pritchard. -- British taxpayers or the protected themselves? My Shropshire constituents would be more interested in keeping their streets safe from burglars. It would be surprising if Scotland Yard provided such protection at taxpayers' expense."
Mark Pritchard also expressed surprise that the British government is seeking the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi, knowing full well that the Russian Constitution prohibits such actions. “It’s easy to say: change the Constitution! - said the deputy. -Can it be changed? How easy is it? Changing the Constitution requires two votes in the Russian parliament and a national referendum... Even if Putin himself wanted to extradite Lugovoi, he would not be able to do it.”
At the same time, completely in the spirit of statements by Russian officials, the deputy reminded his colleagues that Britain had received 21 extradition requests from Russia and had not granted any of them. True, he specifically clarified that he does not take into account the case of the Chechen emissary Akhmed Zakayev.
Mr. Pritchard also had a proposal to resolve the problem of bringing Lugovoy to justice. In his opinion, it would be necessary to create a collective judicial body, which would include judges from Russia and Britain, as well as an independent judge. In this case, Lugovoi could be brought to trial on both Russian and British soil.
The deputy also mentioned the story of an alleged attempt to assassinate Berezovsky in London. “If someone was caught by the arm in such an attempt,” Mr. Pritchard said, “then it’s a big mystery to me why he wasn’t arrested? If the police knew someone was planning to assassinate a Russian dissident living in London, why weren't they charged? Why was this man allowed to return to Russia? “I find it contradictory that, on the one hand, we are seeking the extradition of a Russian citizen, and on the other hand, we are releasing another Russian citizen in London, who, according to the information we have, is involved in an attempted murder.”
Not all debaters agreed with Mark Pritchard. Labor MP Chris Bryant called the lobby group chairman's speech "one of the most dangerous speeches I have heard in my time in Parliament." He also said Russia was “sliding toward totalitarianism,” citing harassment of journalists, opposition politicians and attacks on religious minorities.
Counselor for Economics, Trade and Science at the British Embassy in Moscow, Andrew Levy, is one of four diplomats whom Russia is expelling from the country in response to the expulsion of employees of the Russian diplomatic mission in London, THE MOSCOW TIMES newspaper writes, citing sources close to the British diplomat.
One of Mr Levy's activities in Russia was establishing interaction between Russian government officials and British investors. In addition, the publication's sources claim, he played an important role in resolving the difficulties that British companies encountered while working on the Russian market.
In particular, he took an active part in negotiations on the sale by Shell to Gazprom of its share in the Sakhalin-2 project. Experts interviewed by the publication were “surprised” by the expulsion of such a high-ranking employee, but could not come to a consensus on how this circumstance would affect the investment climate in Russia.
Earlier, Russia and Great Britain said that, in accordance with international practice, they would not name the names and positions of the expelled diplomats. Like the British side, which promised to expel four employees of the Russian diplomatic mission, the Russian authorities intend to expel four diplomats. The British are due to leave Russia on Sunday, July 29. The British Foreign Office and the British Embassy in the Russian Federation do not comment on the message about the possible expulsion of Andrew Levy.