ST.PETERSBURG, December 8 (RIA Novosti's Ksenia Nikiforova) - The Justice Ministry of Belgium has taken the decision to extradite Pavel Stekhnovski, suspected of assassinating Galina Starovoitova, the press service of the St.Petersburg FSB branch told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
"The extradition order is undersigned by the justice minister of Belgium. The timeframe is being ascertained", the press service added.
Pavel Stakhnovski, suspected of preparing for and assassinating Starovoitova was detained in July 2004 on the operative international instruction from Russia to the Belgian law-enforcement agencies.
State Duma deputy Galina Starovoitova was killed on November 20, 1998 in her house entrance in St.Petersburg. Simultaneously, her aide Ruslan Linkov was gravely wounded.
The FSB board for St.Petersburg and the region conducted the investigation. Six persons have been seized and another four suspects put on search.
The case materials on the six suspects were passed to the city prosecutor on November 24, 2003 and reached the court several days later.
At the October 5, 2004 hearings the prosecutor ended exhibiting evidence.
The next court session on the Starovoitova case is set for January 20, 2005.
