Crown to go for Russians
SCOTTISH prosecutors are primed to go after dirty Russian money as Britain looks to widen sanctions to hit individual Kremlin-linked figures.
The UK is still considering further action against Vladimir Putin’s regime as concerns mount that a former double agent and his daughter may have life-long brain damage after the Salisbury poisonings.
Nicola Sturgeon yesterday signalled that Scottish police and Crown Office officials were ready to use new and existing powers to go after the proceeds of crime. In a letter to
Theresa May, Ms Sturgeon stressed Scotland had pioneered the use of civil courts to strip criminals of wealth they could not account for.
And the First Minster told the Prime Minister she backed so-called Magnitsky Act actions – sanctions against regime favourites of a kind introduced in America after the murder of Russian money-laundering whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky. Ms Sturgeon announced her letter at Holyrood with a formal demand for Mrs May to take “concrete” action by the UK Government against the criminal abuse of Scotland’s notorious limited partnerships or SLPS.
The Herald revealed yesterday Mrs May was set to ban the form of firm nearly a year after this newspaper revealed they were at the heart of Russian money-laundering.
Campaigners are still waiting to hear specific proposals on SLPS. The Prime Minister, however, on Wednesday formally made it known to the SNP’S Westminster leader Ian Blackford that she is ready to act. Conservatives had already said they would reform SLPS under constructive pressure from the SNP and Scottish ministers and with support of key Labour figures.
The Salisbury attack – and the desire to hit back at the associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin – is understood to have “focused” Mrs May’s mind.
The UK last June forced all SLPS to declare a person of significant control or PSC in emergency legislation. New figures obtained by Labour, however, have once again underlined how few SLPS are complying with this basic anti-money laundering rule.
THE police officer exposed to the Novichok nerve agent after the Salisbury poisoning has spoken for the first time about his experience, saying how “normal life for me will probably never be the same”.
After being discharged from hospital, Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, 38, said he was overwhelmed by the support he had received during what he described as a completely surreal experience.
On Sunday March 4, he was taken to Salisbury District Hospital after responding to the attack on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia.
At a press conference outside the hospital, Cara Charles-barks for Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust said he had been discharged yesterday afternoon after his condition improved.
The Skripals, however, remained in a critical but stable condition, she said.
Mr Bailey, in a statement read out by Keir Pritchard, Wiltshire Police’s Chief Constable, Mr Bailey said: “People ask me how I am feeling but there are really no words to explain how I feel right now. Surreal is the word that keeps cropping up and it really has been completely surreal.
“I have been so very overwhelmed by the support, cards and messages I have received; everyone has been so incredible.”
The detective described himself as “just a normal person with a normal life”, but added: “I recognise that ‘normal’ life for me will probably never be the same and Sarah and I now need to focus on finding a new normal for us and for our children.”
His wife Sarah added: “Nick doesn’t like the term ‘hero’ but he has always been a hero to me and our children.”
Meanwhile, the war of words between London and Moscow continued as Theresa May at the European Council meeting in Brussels sought to get a show of support from her EU counterparts.
On Monday, foreign ministers of the 28-nation bloc issued a statement, voicing “unqualified solidarity” with the UK, but they stopped short of pointing the finger of blame at Moscow for the Salisbury attack.
Federica Mogherini, the EU’S high representative for foreign affairs, repeated the line at yesterday’s summit, saying: “We will obviously express our strongest possible solidarity with the UK after the attack in Salisbury… and deciding to stay focused on that together, because the strongest political sign we can give is unity, unity and unity; including at the moment we move forward in the negotiations on Brexit.
“This doesn’t mean anything in terms of diminishing our solidarity. On the contrary, we stand together,” she added.
UK Government sources said Britain now regarded Russia as a “strategic enemy”.
The Prime Minister, wearing a white ribbon in commemoration of terror attacks in Westminster and Brussels, said: “Russia staged a brazen and reckless attack against the UK when it attempted the murder of two people in the streets of Salisbury.
“The Russian threat doesn’t respect borders and indeed the incident in Salisbury was part of a pattern of Russian aggression against Europe and its near neighbours from the western Balkans to the Middle East,” added Mrs May, who was due to address fellow leaders over dinner.
In London, Alexander Yakovenko, decried the UK Government’s “anti-russian” campaign and condemned Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s comparison of Vladimir Putin hosting this summer’s World Cup with Hitler’s 1936 Olympics.
“Nobody has the right to insult the Russian people, who defeated Nazism,” he insisted. THESE pupils were jumping for joy at the launch of a programme of 14 shows from 12 countries for the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival.
The youngsters, from Preston Street Primary in Edinburgh, were at the event which unveiled well-loved work by Scottish companies such as Catherine Wheels, productions from as far as New Zealand and Canada, and an exciting show from South Africa partly performed in the clicking language Xhosa.
Noel Jordan, director of the festival from May 26 to June 3, said: “At their core is a belief that children deserve the best art possible.”