WARSAW, Poland ― One of Russia's most wanted men, a charismatic Chechen activist who has avoided extraditions from European nations before, was arrested Friday in Poland on charges related to alleged abuses but set free.
Akhmed Zakayev, who has been granted asylum in Britain, maintains the accusations are trumped up and told Radio Free Europe the day before his arrest that he was in Poland "absolutely legally" and would not hide from authorities.
The Kremlin casts the activist as a dangerous guerrilla mastermind. He faces charges in Russia of murder, kidnapping and terrorism.
The 51-year-old was apprehended Friday "without any trouble" while leaving a Warsaw home early in the day and was turned over to prosecutors, national police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski said.
Zakayev, whose silver beard and impeccable tailoring make him look more like a diplomat than a guerrilla fighter, appeared relaxed in a crisp white shirt and suit as he arrived in a police car at the prosecutor's office.
On Friday evening, a Warsaw regional court released Zakayev, who was in the Polish capital to attend an international Chechen congress.
Prosecutors had sought to extend his detention. Congress organizer Adam Borowski said the court decision meant Zakayev would stay in Poland pending a decision on whether he can be extradited.
However, court spokesman Wojciech Malek said the ruling means Zakayev is free to leave Poland if he wants. Prosecutors can appeal the decision within seven days.
It was unclear when any ruling on an extradition might be made. A spokeswoman for prosecutors, Monika Lewandowska, said they hadn't received a formal extradition request from Russia.
After walking out of the court Friday, Zakayev told reporters that he would attend the conference on Saturday. He said he had been confident that "Poland would not abandon the principle of democracy and of the rule of law."
Russia's Foreign Ministry couldn't be reached for comment immediately after the ruling.
The arrest came as a surprise to many in Poland, which has prided itself on bolstering independence and democracy by offering support to activists abroad, including ones from Chechnya. Scores of Polish lawmakers from both the left and right appealed to the authorities not to extradite Zakayev.
Amnesty International also weighed in, saying Zakayev shouldn't be extradited to Russia because he "could not count on an honest trial" there.
The detention came as relations between Moscow and Warsaw have begun to warm up. If Zakayev isn't handed over to Moscow, those diplomatic efforts face potential trouble. In 2002, both Denmark and Britain experienced a cooling of ties with Russia after they rejected similar requests to extradite Zakayev.
Before the arrest, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said police would be legally bound to pick up Zakayev if he showed up for the World Chechen Congress because there was an international warrant for his arrest distributed by Interpol.
Later, however, Tusk indicated that Poland wasn't prepared to send Zakayev to Russia just to placate Moscow. Zakayev will be treated "in accordance with our understanding of Poland's interests and with our sense of decency and justice, and we will not be trying to meet anybody's expectations," Tusk said.
In Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said officials were following the situation closely and were in contact with Polish authorities.
Zakayev was arrested in 2002 in Denmark, then released after officials ruled that Russia failed to provide sufficient evidence to merit his extradition.
He then flew to London, where he was picked up on the warrant distributed by Interpol. But British authorities chose not to extradite him, instead granting him asylum, saying he was at risk of being tortured if he were sent back.
Zakayev, an actor, entered politics in 1994, when he was named culture minister by Chechnya's first separatist president just months before Russia's military tried to put down the republic's independence bid.
When the military returned for the second Chechen war in 1999, Zakayev was a top assistant to then-President Aslan Maskhadov. Zakayev was wounded and left Chechnya, becoming Maskhadov's top envoy abroad.
Zakayev has said he represents the Chechen separatist political faction and has distanced himself from radical Islamic rebels. This year he denounced the militant leader who claimed responsibility for the Moscow subway bombings in March, which he described as a "monstrous crime."