Quick question to what appears a fairy knowledgeable crowd: do we have any past exemple of a swapped agent latter kild by ex colleagues? I would think that there muss be some sort of tacit agreement not to do this?!In the past there seems to be a tacit agreement not to go after swapped agents, but what seems more powerful, in terms of the law, is that in this case Sergei Skripal was pardoned of his crimes against Russia and once exchanged was granted UK citizenship. Captain underpants font. Legally I would guess this wipes the slate clean of anything he was found guilty of in the past, and comes down to the attempted murder of a UK citizen, on UK soil, using a potential weapon of mass destruction in a public place. I'm not sure if his daughter holds UK or Russian citizenship.

Any state that engages in, aids and abets, or by inaction allows, such an attack should be subject to a harsher charge than just attempted murder, in my view, but I really have no idea how international law deals with what seems to be such an unusual, perhaps unique, set of circumstances. Pity we don't seem to have anyone participating in this thread that has in-depth knowledge as to how international law would classify such an attack, or even if there is an provision in it for dealing with attacks on individuals like this. There seems to be an argument that using this type of internationally prohibited weapon breached certain agreements, but whether such breaches carry any significant enforceable penalty I don't know.

I doubt they do, solely on the basis that there was virtually no real action taken over the use of Polonium 210 against Alexander Litvinenko. In that case there was proof that the attack was undertaken by the Russian state, yet still very little was done about it. The UK Government presented the evidence to the Russian government and requested extradition for a criminal trial in the UK. The Russians declined to extradite ending any legal action, I suppose, if they tried to enter the UK, they could be arrested. Is the an international law regarding assassination and what forum could it be tried in?

Assuming the Russians were motivated to turn over the suspects. It’s an “act of war”, IMO, but that the consequences of pursuing that line is beyond consideration, so we await the next murder. Oh, there’s a law in Russia authorizing these murders. Litvinenko also commented on a new law that 'Russia has the right to carry out pre-emptive strikes on militant bases abroad' and explained that these 'pre-emptive strikes may involve anything except nuclear weapons.'

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Litvinenko said, 'You know who they mean when they say 'terrorist bases abroad'? They mean us, Zakayev and Boris and me.' He also said that 'It was considered in our service that poison is an easier weapon than a pistol.' He referred to a secret laboratory in Moscow that still continues development of deadly poisons, according to him. From this Wiki entry: I'd apply the usual caution that Wikipedia may not always be a reliable reference source, especially where personal quotes are concerned. At the time of his murder Alexander Litvinenko was a naturalised British citizen, very like Sergei Skripal. America's ambassador to the United Nations lashed out at Moscow on Wednesday following the March 4 nerve gas attempted assassination of a former Russian intelligence agent and his daughter in Salisbury, England.