11.10.07

Russia and the USA agreed to develop an official agreement on the mutual extradition of persons suspected in committing crimes. It was announced after negotiations concluded between Alexander Bastrykin, the Head of Investigating Committee at Russia’s Prosecutor’s Office, and the US Ambassador William Burns.

A working meeting was organized after the initiative came from the American side. One of main themes of the negotiations was dedicated to investigations of the murder cases of Anna Politkovskaya, the Novaya Gazetta journalist, and Paul Khlebnikov, chief editor of the Russian Forbes edition, - both of which held US citizenship. Talks reached an important agreement: to commission law experts of both countries to develop a draft for a new extradition convention.

Ambassador Burns and the embassy devote great attention to coordinating cooperation between law-enforcement agencies. Burns has also participated in the Second All-Russia Assembly of Non-Governmental Organizations Against Human Trafficking. In his speech he emphasized: “The work of the (Russian) Ministry of the Interior for providing educational courses on human trafficking deserves the highest praise. The Ministry also equips specialists for investigating and prosecution of human trafficking crimes. The Russian government as always has shown a stead-fast resolve to eliminating this problem”.

The US Embassy also staffs several FBI executives and two resident legal representatives of The US Ministry of Justice. They work closely with Russian colleagues on many issues related to fighting international crimes. In particular, since 1995 the US Ministry of Justice has actively participated in the implementation of programs for improving the quality and level of cooperation between Russian and American law-enforcement agencies.

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