Russia's deputy foreign minister has responded to repeated calls from Syria's new leadership to extradite former dictator Bashar al-Assad for trial, making clear that the political asylum Moscow granted Assad is permanent.
"Moscow will not hand over Bashar al-Assad to Syria and will not extradite him to any country under any legal process," Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Borisenko said today.
Borisenko described the political asylum granted to Assad and his family as "irrevocable" and said Russia would not accept demands to extradite him to any country, including Syria.
Syria's new government has already put several senior figures from the Assad regime on trial after they were captured in the regime's final days, some of them caught fleeing in women's clothing.
Assad himself is under indictment in Syria, and if he were ever returned to the country, he would face trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
