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| British prosecutors name the 2 Russians suspected of poisoning the Skripals | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| UK prosecutors named two Russians they suspect of poisoning the Skripals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov - charging them with the attempted murder of the ex-double agent and his daughter along with a police officer. | |
| British police said the suspects were travelling on authentic Russian passports and had arrived in the UK days before the incident. | |
| Neil Basu, Head of Counter Terrorism policing, said the two suspects were traveling under aliases but were around 40-years-old and had Russian passports. | |
| Basu noted that traces of Novichok contamination were found in the London hotel room where the two men had stayed. He said they arrived in Britain on March 2 and left on March 4. | |
| "Tests were carried out in the hotel room where the suspects had stayed. Two swabs showed contamination of Novichok of levels below that which would cause concern for public health," Basu added. | |
| Asked of the suspects were 'Russian agents', the UK counter-terror chief did not directly answer rather he appealed to the worldwide public to help identify them. | |
| The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced that they have enough evidence to charge the two men. Beyond identifying them as Russian nationals the CPS gave no indication as to who the men were. | |
| "Prosecutors from CPS counter terrorism division have considered the evidence and have concluded there is sufficient evidence to 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," Sue Hemming, CPS director of legal services, said. | |
| “Those offences include conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal; the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey; the use and possession of novichok contrary to the Chemical Weapons Act; and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey. | |
| "A realistic prospect of conviction means the CPS is satisfied on an objective assessment that the evidence can be used in court and that an objective, impartial and reasonable jury hearing the case, properly directed and acting in accordance with the law, is more likely than not to convict these two individuals of the charges," Hemming added. | |
| "It is of course for a jury to decide whether the evidence is enough for them to be sure of the suspects guilt. We will not be applying to Russia for the extradition of these men as the Russian constitution does not permit extradition of its own nationals. Russia has made this clear following requests for extradition in other cases. Should this position change then an extradition request would be made. | |
| “We have, however, 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." | |
| Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury this March. The poisoning ignited a diplomatic row between the UK and Russia, with the British government blaming Moscow. Russia has consistently denied any involvement in the incident. | |
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