Lord Judd still has chance of coming to Russia

Russia is ready to re-consider the question of giving a visa to Lord Judd, former special reporter of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Chechnya and ex-co-chairman of the PACE - State Duma working group, reported a source at the information and press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"The entry to Russia is not closed for the British parliamentarian. The Russian side has confirmed its readiness to consider his visa request on condition that it will meet the requirements of the Russian legislation," a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said.

Commenting on the situation concerning the alleged refusal to give a visa to Lord Judd, the spokesman said that he did ask the Russian Embassy in London to give him an entry visa to the Russian Federation. However, he did not present all the documents necessary for receiving this document under the Federal Law "On the Procedure of Exit from the Russian Federation and Entry into the Russian Federation." "For this reason he was asked to make his invitation paper drawn properly," the spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Editors note: See also the article "Duma member sees no politics in denial of visa to Lord Judd".