Russia Refuses to Hand Over Diplomat Charged With Sexual Assault in Canada
- From: "captain." <spammersmustdie@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2006 08:35:53 GMT
Russia Refuses to Hand Over Diplomat Charged With Sexual Assault in Canada
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/06/10/handoverrequest.shtml
Canada has asked Russia to return one of its diplomats to Canada to face
charges of drugging and sexually assaulting two young men in his apartment
here in February, Globe and Mail reported on Saturday. But the Russians are
balking at the request, saying the allegations are nothing more than an
attempt by Russian mobsters to blackmail the former embassy staff member.
Valery Fomin, 53, who has been charged with two counts of sexual assault and
two counts of causing a person to take a stupefying or overpowering drug,
fled back to his homeland on the day after police were called to his
apartment last winter. Superintendent Charles Bordeleau, the diplomatic
liaison officer for the Ottawa police, said his force was contacted on the
evening of Feb. 24 by two men in their early 20s with a bizarre story to
tell.
The men, who cannot be identified because they are allegedly victims of a
sexual assault, said they had met a man at the Hull Casino on the Quebec
side of the Ottawa River. They alleged that he took them back to his
apartment in Ottawa at about 4 a.m., and that they spent 16 hours there,
lapsing in and out of consciousness. They told police that at some point
they determined that they had been sexually assaulted - police will not
disclose whether they were aware of the alleged assaults when they occurred.
Eventually, the two men recovered their faculties. They left the apartment
and called police, who sent cruisers to Fomin's apartment. "There was some
contact made with Mr. Fomin that evening. It was a very short contact,"
Supt. Bordeleau said. The next day the Russian was gone. Despite his
departure, police continued to gather information based on the allegations
of the two young men, Supt. Bordeleau said.
"We also ensured that we sent some evidence to our labs, where toxicology
reports came back recently indicating that there were three different types
of prescription drugs that were used, which resulted in the victims being
rendered unconscious for periods of time," he said.
Armed with that information, the police laid charges and a warrant was
issued for Fomin's arrest. "They are serious allegations," Supt. Bordeleau
said. "We have sexual-assault allegations. But, in addition to that, these
victims were given drugs that rendered them unconscious." The matter was
turned over to the Crown attorney and the federal government was asked to
assist in securing Fomin's return to Canada.
"There is no extradition treaty between Canada and the country concerned.
But the department has requested the co-operation of the mission involved in
taking effective action against this person," said Kim Girtel, deputy
director of communications at the Foreign Affairs Department. "This issue
has been discussed between Canadian officials and the embassy and a formal
request for the embassy's assistance has been made and we are currently
awaiting an official response."
At this point, however, it does not appear that the response is likely to be
positive. Alexey Lisenkov, the press secretary at the Russian embassy in
Ottawa, said he would not comment on the investigation.
"But, since these unfounded allegations indirectly are causing harm to the
image of our diplomats in general, I would like to state the following," he
said in an e-mail message to The Globe and Mail. "In this very case we are
witnessing, unfortunately, another attempt by so-called 'Russian mafia'
abroad of targeting its former compatriots using such dirty tricks as
blackmail."
Supt. Bordeleau said he could not reveal the nationality or the ethnicity of
the victims. But "we have no information whatsoever to support any
allegation of organized crime being involved or associated in this
instance," he said.
The case is reminiscent of that of Andrei Knyazev, the former first
secretary of the Russian embassy in Ottawa, who missed a turn while driving
back from an ice-fishing trip in January, 2001. Knyazev plowed into two
friends, Catherine MacLean and Catherine Dor?, who were walking along a
residential street. MacLean was killed and Dor? was severely injured.
Knyazev refused to submit to a breath analysis, claimed diplomatic immunity
and was sent back to Russia, where his immunity was revoked and he was
charged under that country's laws. He was convicted of involuntary
manslaughter and sentenced to four years in a penal colony.
.
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