{"id":691,"date":"2018-09-07T16:30:01","date_gmt":"2018-09-07T16:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?post_type=article&p=691"},"modified":"2018-09-07T16:32:06","modified_gmt":"2018-09-07T16:32:06","slug":"691","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/691\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain Charges Two Russians in Nerve Agent Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

On September 5, 2018, the British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced they have charged two Russian individuals, who are officers of the Russian military intelligence service (GRU), with the nerve-agent poisoning of Russian former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

The CPS has said its Counter Terrorism Division have considered the evidence and has concluded sufficient evidence exists \u201cto provide a realistic prospect of conviction and it is clearly in the public interest to charge Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, who are Russian nationals, with the following offences: conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal; attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey; use and possession of Novichok contrary to the Chemical Weapons Act; and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

The CPS said it will not request Russia to extradite these men, as the Russian constitution does not permit extradition of its own nationals.\u00a0 Russia has shown following requests for extradition in other cases that it will not extradite its nationals. If Russia\u2019s position changes, then an extradition request would be made.<\/p>\n

However, British authorities have obtained a European Arrest Warrant which means that if either man travels to a country where an EAW is valid, they will be arrested and face extradition on these charges, for which there is no statute of limitations.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

On September 5, 2018, British authorities posted detailed surveillance camera images and other information tracking the two men moving through Gatwick Airport, London train and subway stations, and the streets of Salisbury.<\/p>\n

British Prime Minister Theresa May said the suspects had traveled from Moscow to London, using Russian passports with false names.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

According to British authorities, the two Russians arrived on March 2, conducted surveillance in Salisbury on March 3, left the nerve agent on the door handles of the Skripal house in the afternoon, and then took a flight that night from Heathrow Airport to Moscow.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

More than 250 detectives, as well as dozens of forensic scientists and health investigators worked on the case.\u00a0 They took 1,400 statements and reviewed 11,000 hours of video surveillance footage recorded on Britain\u2019s extensive closed-circuit television camera systems.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

Britain is one of the most intensively surveilled countries.\u00a0 It has an estimated one surveillance camera per 11 citizens\u00a0 Its technology to visually identify criminals enables the police to scan an airport for a tattoo. The\u00a0 technology combines with using genetically gifted humans, known as \u201csuper-recognizers.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

A major breakthrough in the investigation occurred two months after the Skripals were poisoned.\u00a0 The police investigated the City Stay Hotel in East London, where the two suspects had spent the two nights before the placing of the poison.\u00a0 Officers took samples from the room where the two men had stayed.\u00a0 In the laboratory trace contamination for the nerve agent used in the attack was found.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

Another fortunate circumstance was that heavy snow fell through the weekend of the placement of the poison, which decreased the number of people on the streets to review on the close circuit cameras.<\/p>\n

On September 5, 2018, Russian officials denied any responsibility and repeated claims that the British were making false claims and refusing to allow Russia access to the evidence.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

Three months after the Skripals were poisoned, Charlie Rowley, a Salisbury man, found the bottle.\u00a0 He gave what appeared to be a bottle of perfume to a 44-year-old girl friend Dawn Sturgess, a mother of three.\u00a0 She died from exposure to the same nerve agent that afflicted the Skripals.\u00a0 Rowley found the bottle in a charity bin.\u00a0 Rowley became sick, but later recovered.[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

On September 3, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed that Rowley and Sturgess were also exposed to Novichok.<\/p>\n

British police are trying to ascertain where the bottle was between the Skripal poisoning in March and its discovery by Rowley on June 27.\u00a0 Because of this police are not yet ready to bring charges in the second poisoning.[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

The case shows the utility of the pervasive video cameras.\u00a0 The EAW and likely INTERPOL notices will make it difficult for the two Russians to travel outside Russia, once Britain learns their true names.<\/p>\n

The case is likely to lead to additional sanctions against Russia and cause the ruble to fall further.\u00a0 In this regard, on August 8, 2018, the U.S. government announced sanctions imposed on Russian for the Skripal poisonings.[12]<\/a>\u00a0 If Britain charges Russia with the death of Sturgess, then the potential for sanctions against Russia is likely to escalate.\u00a0 In addition, on June 27, 2018,\u00a0 the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) gained the power to assign blame for chemical weapons attacks, which has the potential to blame Russia for the nerve agent incidents in Salisbury.[13]<\/a><\/p>\n

On September 6, the leaders of the U.S., France, Germany and Canada endorsed Britain\u2019s assessement that Russian military officers had conducted a nerve agent attack on the Skripal and that a senior level of the Russian government had to have approved it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ahortly thereafter, in an emergency Security Council meeting called by Britain to brief diplomats on the investigation, British Ambassador Karen Pierce summarized evidence that she said illustrated Russia\u2019s complicity in the attacked.\u00a0 Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia denied Russian involvement in the case. And denied that Russia had ever developed or used Novichok.[14]<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Associated Press, Britain charges 2 Russians over nerve-agent poising of ex-spy and daughter<\/em>, CBC, Sept. 5, 2018; Laura Smith-Spark and Milena Veselinovic, Russians charged over UK Novichok nerve agent attack<\/em>, CNN, Sept. 5, 2018.<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 CPS, CPS Statement \u2013 Salisbury, September 5, 2018 https:\/\/www.cps.gov.uk\/cps\/news\/cps-statement-salisbury<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Id<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Karla Adam and William Booth, Britain names two Russian suspects in nerve agent attack<\/em>, Wash. Post, Sept. 6, 2018, at A9, col. 1.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Id<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ellen Barry, Britain\u2019s Web of Cameras Cracks Poisoning Case<\/em>, N.Y. Times, Sept. 6, 2018, at A1 col. 4.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[9]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Adam and Booth, supra.<\/em><\/p>\n

[10]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Id<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Associated Press, supra.<\/em><\/p>\n

[12]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Zagaris, U.S. Announces Sanctions on Russia for Violation of Chemical and Biological Weapons Treaty<\/em>, 34 Int\u2019l Enforcement L. Rep. 448 (Aug. 2018).<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maria O\u2019Sullivan,\u00a0 The OPCW Votes to Attribute Blame for Chemicals Weapons Violations: Not Everyone\u2019s Happy<\/em>, 34 Int\u2019l Enforcement L. Rep. 442\u00a0 (July 2018).<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Karla Adam and Carol Morello, World leaders endorse Novichok assessment<\/em>, Wash. Post, Sept. 7, 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On September 5, 2018, the British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced they have charged two Russian individuals, who are officers of the Russian military intelligence service (GRU), with the nerve-agent poisoning of Russian former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England.[1] The CPS has said its Counter Terrorism Division have considered the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"issuem_issue":[54],"class_list":{"0":"post-691","1":"article","2":"type-article","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"issuem_issue-volume-34-issue-9","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nBritain Charges Two Russians in Nerve Agent Attack | IELR Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/691\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Britain Charges Two Russians in Nerve Agent Attack | IELR Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On September 5, 2018, the British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced they have charged two Russian individuals, who are officers of the Russian military intelligence service (GRU), with the nerve-agent poisoning of Russian former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England.[1] The CPS has said its Counter Terrorism Division have considered the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/691\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IELR Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/intlenforcementlawreporter\/?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-09-07T16:32:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ielr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/article\\\/691\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/article\\\/691\\\/\",\"name\":\"Britain Charges Two Russians in Nerve Agent Attack | IELR Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-07T16:30:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-07T16:32:06+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/article\\\/691\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/article\\\/691\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/article\\\/691\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/article\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Britain Charges Two Russians in Nerve Agent Attack\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"IELR Blog\",\"description\":\"Official Blog of the International Enforcement Law Reporter\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Britain Charges Two Russians in Nerve Agent Attack | IELR Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/691\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Britain Charges Two Russians in Nerve Agent Attack | IELR Blog","og_description":"On September 5, 2018, the British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced they have charged two Russian individuals, who are officers of the Russian military intelligence service (GRU), with the nerve-agent poisoning of Russian former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England.[1] The CPS has said its Counter Terrorism Division have considered the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/691\/","og_site_name":"IELR Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/intlenforcementlawreporter\/?ref=bookmarks","article_modified_time":"2018-09-07T16:32:06+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@ielr","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/691\/","url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/691\/","name":"Britain Charges Two Russians in Nerve Agent Attack | IELR Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-09-07T16:30:01+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-07T16:32:06+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/691\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/691\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/691\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Britain Charges Two Russians in Nerve Agent Attack"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/","name":"IELR Blog","description":"Official Blog of the International Enforcement Law Reporter","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":694,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/691\/revisions\/694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}