Chechen rebel envoy says extradition to Russia on war crimes charges will put his life in danger

A Chechen envoy challenging extradition to Moscow denied committing war crimes when he appeared before magistrates in central London yesterday, while his lawyers claimed his life would be at risk if he returned to Russia.

Akhmed Zakayev, 43, was detained by immigration officials at Heathrow last week, but later released on £50,000 bail put up by Vanessa Redgrave, the actress and human rights activist.

Mr Zakayev, an actor and culture minister in a short-lived elected Chechen government, campaigns around Europe for unconditional peace talks with the Kremlin. He is accused by Russia of terrorist acts dating back to 1995, including the murder of two priests and more than 300 Russian troops.

At Bow Street magistrates' court, Mr Zakayev's solicitor rejected the 10 charges against him as "wholly false" and asked for his address to be withheld for safety reasons. Mr Zakayev claimed he was the victim of Russia's attempts to ensure "anti-terrorist" operations in Chechnya continued unhindered by peace talks.

At a press conference after the court hearing, Mr Zakayev said: "The fact that the Russian prosecution service asked for my arrest was to get in the way of my diplomatic attempts to bring us closer to a political settlement." He added: "What I am defending is the right of the Chechen nation to life."

The case has presented the Government with its biggest extradition headache since the detention of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998. Mr Zakayev was accompanied at his press conference by Ms Redgrave and the left-wing Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, who said he would raise the case with David Blunkett, the Home Secretary. The Chechen fugitive ,was released from custody in Denmark last Thursday, after a similar extradition request against him was thrown out by the courts.

As well as allegedly serving as a leader of the Chechen South-western Front insurgency from 1995 to 2000, Mr Zakayev is accused of involvement in a series of kidnappings and murders in the capital, Grozny, in 1996, including the alleged killings of two Russian Orthodox priests. One of the clerics, named as Father Sergiy, is now known to be alive. He recently gave an interview to a Moscow newspaper.

Mr Zakayev, the deputy prime minister of the Muslim rebel Chechen government, who is seen as a moderate in Western circles, said: "I can put my hand on the Koran and swear that none of the accusations on that charge sheet have any foundation. None of the things which I have been accused of have I ever committed. Never in my life have I done anything of the sort."

Gareth Peirce, the human rights lawyer representing Mr Zakayev, said: "Mr Zakayev is here in this court following repeated requests by the Russian government, which is making assertions of a wholly false nature." The case was adjourned until 9 January.