Evgeny Adamov, former Russian Federation Minister of Atomic Energy
Photo: Sergey Mikheev
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He Is Not at All Green That Adamov
Evgeny Adamov, former atomic energy minister of Russia, had the chance yesterday, July 5, to familiarize himself with the U.S. formal request for his extradition that is based on award of the Pittsburgh Grand Jury. On June 6, 2005, that Jury brought in 20 charges against Adamov, including stealing $9 million allocated for a nuclear safety program funded by the United States. Having denied accusation, Adamov rejected a simplified extradition procedure, but the final word still rests with the Swiss court.
It was mere formality, spokesman of the Federal Justice Department of Switzerland specified to Kommersant, pointing out Adamov had expressed his attitude to the U.S. request before it was actually served.
Basically, the extradition denial was the only possible move for Adamov, whose destiny largely depends on award of the Federal Court of Lausanne that is currently going through the appeal of the Federal Justice Department against the decision of the Court of First Instance. On June 9, 2005, that court declared Adamov’s detention illegal and ruled to discharge him from custody.
Berne received the request of the U.S. Department of Justice on June 24, on the same day when Lausanne Court upheld the request of its Swiss counterpart, seeking suspension for the award of the First Instance Court till the final decision on the appeal is made.
But agonizing suspense for the court decision doesn’t mean even the temporarily hold-up of extradition procedures. Short of time, Swiss officials are studying the U.S. request for correspondence to the Swiss laws. Before extraditing Adamov, it is necessary to prove that by place of the crimes, the action is within jurisdiction of the party that demands extradition, i.e. within the jurisdiction of the Western District of Pennsylvania State. Second, in Switzerland, it is vital that all actions incriminated to Adamov are equally classified under the laws of both countries, as the extradition is possible only provided real crimes are involved. And that is where the last hope has evidently flicked for Adamov. Some actions classified as crimes in other countries are mere offence under the Swiss laws. They are punished by all means, but don’t call for extradition.
And there is one more point of interest in Adamov’s case. The Swiss jury is to rule, which extradition request – the one previously forwarded by Russia or the one recently served by the United States – will have the priority. The decision could be expected no sooner than the analysis of the U.S. documentation is completed, spokesman of the Federal Justice Department told Kommersant.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 06, 2005
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