Poland police arrests Chechen exile leader Saturday, 18 September 2010 03:53

WARSAW: Polish police yesterday arrested Chechen independence leader Akhmed Zakayev, wanted by Russia on terror charges, paving the way for a legal and diplomatic battle over his possible extradition.

Zakayev had arrived in Poland on Thursday to attend a two-day congress of some 300 exiles from conflict-torn Chechnya, despite warnings from Polish authorities that he risked being taken into custody.

He lives in Britain where he was granted political asylum in 2003.

“Zakayev could end up spending a lot of time in Poland, given that the extradition process can last 40 days. It remains to be seen if he’ll be spending it behind bars,” said Adam Borowski, a Polish spokesman for Chechnya’s unrecognised, secessionist authorities.

Thereafter, however, appeals and countermoves could stretch out the process.

Police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski earlier said Poland was responding to a warrant issued by Russia via Interpol and had no option but to detain Zakayev.

“Because there was an international arrest warrant, police were under an obligation to detain him and to take him to prosecutors,” Sokolowski told TVN24 television.

Borowski had said Thursday that Zakayev had planned in any case to surrender to Polish prosecutors.

In a statement, Ivar Amundsen, head of the London-based Chechnya Peace Forum, took Russian authorities to task.

“They requested his arrest and extradition when he was granted political asylum in London in 2003, and when he has visited numerous European countries since then, including Poland three times this year, and each time the courts found the case did not stand up,” he said.

Poland’s justice ministry, however, said there had been no legal cases over Zakayev’s previous visits.

AFP

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