Deputy speaker of Russian parliament: Hopefully, they in London listen to the Conservatives regarding the Litvinenko case

Read it in Russian

One can only welcome opinion of the British Conservatives criticizing their government and acknowledging lack of logic in claiming for extradition of Andrei Lugovoy, as it contradicts the Russian law. A REGNUM correspondent quotes Deputy Chair of the Russian State Duma Vladimir Pekhtin as saying this today commenting on debates at the UK parliament about the UK-Russia relations regarding the diplomatic crisis over the Litvinenko case.

“Flexibility of the British Conservatives in the discrepancies between Moscow and London demonstrate their prudence and willingness to find a compromise decision. It looks like prudence prevailed here, and hopefully, they in London will listen to the opinion of their colleagues at the parliament,” Pekhtin said.

He noted that an address to political refugees was sounded at the discussion “to be more careful in what they are saying,” because it provokes discrepancies between countries. “Here, one can advise Berezovsky to listen to the words,” the MP said. He reminded that Boris Berezovsly wanted by the Russian prosecution some time ago used the media to announce his plans of staging a coup in Russia in order to topple “the anti-constitutional regime.”

At the same time, Pekhtin said that establishing partтук and friendly relations with all countries “is our priority” and recent UK actions regarding Russia cause “bewilderment and indignation.” “In particular, the proposal to change the Russian constitution is disrespect to our law and interference into Russia’s domestic affairs,” the MP said.

Late May, the British prosecution charged Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoy with murder of Alexander Litvinenko. Lugovoy, along with Dmitry Kovtun and Vyacheslav Sokolenko met Litvinenko three weeks before the latter died. On May 28, the British embassy in Moscow handed over materials for extradition of Lugovoy to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the same day the materials were sent to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office. However, Moscow sent an official refusal to extradite Lugovoy citing the Russian constitution.

At the same time, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, citing the European Convention on Extradition and the Russian law, expressed its readiness to consider documents for instituting criminal proceedings against Lugovoy, which was turned down by the British side.