{"id":12329,"date":"2018-09-05T07:08:07","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T11:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=12329"},"modified":"2018-09-05T07:51:58","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T11:51:58","slug":"salisbury-poisoning-two-russian-charged-over-novichok-attack-but-uk-cannot-get-them-out-of-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2018\/09\/05\/salisbury-poisoning-two-russian-charged-over-novichok-attack-but-uk-cannot-get-them-out-of-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Salisbury poisoning: Two Russians charged over Novichok attack, but UK cannot get them out of Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By\u00a0\u00a0Martin Evans<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>crime correspondent and\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Danny Boyle<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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T<\/span>wo Russians have been named as suspects and charged over\u00a0the Salisbury poisonings, but British authorities are unable to get them out of Russia.\u00a0\u00a0Prosecutors say there is enough evidence to charge Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov with offences including conspiracy to murder over the\u00a0Novichok attack on\u00a0ex-Russian double agent\u00a0Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia<\/a>\u00a0in March.\u00a0\u00a0But the Crown Prosecution Service\u00a0said it will not be applying to Russia for the extradition of the two men as Vladimir Putin’s country does not allow the extradition of its own nationals. A\u00a0European Arrest Warrant has been obtained.\u00a0\u00a0As the news broke, the Russian foreign ministry tweeted a video mocking Theresa May’s dancing in South Africa. It later said that the names released by Britain “do not mean anything to us”.\u00a0\u00a0Theresa May will make a statement in the Commons after Prime Minister’s\u00a0Questions on Wednesday afternoon to update MPs on Salisbury.\u00a0\u00a0Scotland Yard confirmed that\u00a0Novichok was brought into the UK in a bottle of\u00a0Ninna Ricci Premier Jour perfume, which had been\u00a0designed as a specially made poison applicator.<\/p>\n

Neil Basu, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police,\u00a0said it is likely the suspects were travelling under aliases and that Petrov and Boshirov are not their real names.\u00a0\u00a0He said the pair, who are believed to be aged around 40,\u00a0had been to the UK before on the same passports and had “travelled extensively on them in the past”.\u00a0\u00a0They\u00a0arrived at Gatwick Airport on March 2, before\u00a0travelling to Salisbury. They\u00a0left Britain from Heathrow on March 5 on an Aeroflot flight.\u00a0\u00a0Releasing a series of\u00a0CCTV images of the men in London, Mr\u00a0Basu asked witnesses to come forward to establish their real identities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0\"suspects\"<\/div>
The suspects were caught on CCTV on Wilton Road\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0CREDIT:<\/span>\u00a0METROPOLITAN POLICE<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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T<\/span>hey stayed in the\u00a0City Stay Hotel, in Bow, east London, during their stay in the UK. Officers searching their room on May 4\u00a0discovered traces of Novichok, but Scotland Yard said\u00a0there is no risk to other guests.\u00a0\u00a0The announcement will deepen\u00a0the rift between Britain and Russia, after the\u00a0nerve agent attack sparked a\u00a0wave of diplomatic expulsions<\/a>\u00a0by the UK and its allies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0\"Sergei<\/div>
Yulia and Sergei Skripal were discovered slumped on a bench in March after being poisoned with Novichok<\/span>\u00a0CREDIT:<\/span>\u00a0PIXEL8000<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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B<\/span>ritish authorities believe\u00a0that several Russians are thought to have been involved in the attempted murders – which also led to 44-year-old\u00a0Dawn Sturgess\u00a0becoming an indirect casualty<\/a>\u00a0of the poisoning.\u00a0\u00a0A small amount of\u00a0Novichok<\/a>\u00a0is thought to have been used in liquid form to target the Skripals in March.\u00a0\u00a0It is understood that the suspected perpetrators were identified through CCTV footage that was cross-checked with border entry data, according to reports.<\/p>\n

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\"Police<\/div>
Police officers wearing protective suits and breathing equipment at work in Salisbury close to the bench where the Skripals were found slumped in March\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0CREDIT:<\/span>\u00a0JACK TAYLOR\u00a0\/GETTY<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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T<\/span>he UK Government has insisted it is “highly likely” Russia was behind the attack, but Moscow has\u00a0repeatedly denied responsibility<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Ms\u00a0Sturgess\u00a0died in July<\/a>, with authorities believing she and boyfriend Charlie Rowley picked up a discarded vial containing the substance.\u00a0The pair fell ill on June 30 in Amesbury, near Salisbury. Mr Rowley remains seriously ill in hospital.\u00a0\u00a0Police believe it is linked to the poisoning of the Skripals, who were discovered slumped on a bench on March 4 and have\u00a0since been discharged from hospital.<\/p>\n

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Same toxic chemical killed Dawn Sturgess<\/h3>\n

I<\/span>ndependent investigators have confirmed the\u00a0nerve agent used to\u00a0poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal was the same\u00a0toxic chemical that killed Dawn Sturgess in Amesbury\u00a0three months later.\u00a0\u00a0The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OCPW) said its team had confirmed the findings of the UK, which concluded in July that the substance used in Amesbury was Novichok.\u00a0\u00a0Ms Sturgess and her partner Charlie Rowley\u00a0fell ill at his home in Amesbury<\/a>, near\u00a0Salisbury, on June 30.\u00a0\u00a0Ms Sturgess, a mother-of-three, died in hospital eight days later having never regained consciousness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\"Dawn<\/div>
Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley fell ill in Amesbury in June<\/span>\u00a0CREDIT:<\/span>\u00a0AFP\/GETTY<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I<\/span>t is believed they were exposed to a military grade nerve agent\u00a0from a perfume bottle<\/a>\u00a0discarded by those responsible for the attack on the Skripals.<\/p>\n

The OPCW on Tuesday evening said: “The results of the analysis by the OPCW designated laboratories of environmental and biomedical samples collected by the OPCW team confirm the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical that intoxicated two individuals in Amesbury and resulted in one fatality.<\/p>\n

“The toxic chemical compound displays the same toxic properties of a nerve agent.<\/p>\n

“It is also the same toxic chemical that was found in the biomedical and environmental samples relating to the poisoning of Mr Sergei Skripal, Ms Yulia Skripal, and Mr Nicholas Bailey on March 4 in\u00a0Salisbury.”<\/p>\n

Russia accuses UK of keeping Skripals in ‘isolation’<\/h3>\n

Six months on from the nerve agent attack in\u00a0Salisbury, Russia\u00a0has reiterated its belief that the UK is flouting international law by apparently keeping the pair from having contact with embassy officials.<\/p>\n

A statement released by the Russian Embassy on Tuesday referred to the circumstances of the March attack as “obscure” and accused British authorities of keeping the Skripals in isolation ever since their release from hospital.<\/p>\n

It said: “They remain out of the public eye at an unknown location, unable to communicate freely with their relatives, friends, journalists or Russian officials, deprived of the freedom of movement.”<\/p>\n

Video: Yulia Skripal speaks of how she survived poisoning<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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