London court to consider Chichvarkin's extradition.

LONDON, August 2 (Itar-Tass) - The City of Westminster Magistrates'
Court on Horseferry Road will on Monday establish the schedule of
forthcoming hearings on the extradition of Russian businessman Evgeni
Chichvarkin to Russian justice. Chichvarkin, the co-founder and the
co-owner of the cell phone retailer Yevroset, has been on Interpol's
international wanted list since March 11, 2009 on charges of complicity to
the abduction of Andrei Vlaskin, his company's forwarder, in 2003. The
Yevroset security service suspected Vlaskin of stealing the cell phones.
According to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, from December
2003 until April 2004 a group of Yevroset employees, with the consent and
knowledge of Chichvarkin, threatened Vlaskin and his relatives with bodily
harm. Ultimately, they came into possession of money, movable and
immovable property worth 17 million roubles.
The Basmannyi court in Moscow authorized Chichvarkin's arrest in
absentia. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office began insisting on
Chichvarkin's extradition from Britain where he has been staying since
December 2008. At the request of the Russian side, the Westminster
Magistrates' Court issued an arrest warrant for Chichvarkin on August 27,
2009. The businessman was detained in London on September 7 last year.
The first hearings on Chichvarkin's extradition were held on September
22 last year. Chichvarkin was set free on bail worth 100,000 pounds
sterling. The court confiscated Chichvarkin's documents allowing him to
cross the border. The businessman's lawyers claim that the case is
politically motivated.
On December 1, 2009, the Westminster Magistrates' Court put off the
hearings to August 2, 2010.
The British mass media notes that London's refusal to extradite famous
Russians at the request of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office annoys
Moscow and produces a negative impact on Russian-British relations.

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