600 alarm buttons,CCTV cameras to be placed at bus stops in Moscow.

MOSCOW, February 26 (Itar-Tass) -- About 600 public transport stops in Moscow will be equipped with alarm buttons, CCTV cameras and electronic information panels within months.

The Moscow Mayor's Office has said this
resource, expected to make rides on public transport safer and more
comfortable, will be available by the end of June.
Electronic panels will show the name of the stop, the route numbers
and, on the condition there is a special public transport lane, the
expected arrival time of the bus or trolley-bus.
"The electronic information panel will be the size of a full-size
billboard, so even people with poor eyesight will have no problems with
reading the message," sources at the mayor's office said.
The alarm button, placed on the bus stop shelter's wall will let
passengers promptly call the police or an ambulance. The same stops will
be equipped with CCTV cameras that will be transmitting on-site image to
the operator in real time mode.

.Over 66,000 are in hiding from Russian justice abroad - official.

MOSCOW, February 26 (Itar-Tass) -- Tens of thousands of 66,000
wrongdoers wanted in Russia for various offences are in hiding in
different countries around the world, Russia's Deputy Prosecutor-General
Alexander Zvyagintsev told the government-published daily Rossiiskaya
Gazeta in an interview.
"Over 66,000 people are on the international lists of wanted
offenders. They were put there at Russia's initiative. The list has grown
that long over the many years Russia has been involved in the
international mechanisms of the search for criminals within the framework
of Interpol and the CIS. In cooperation with the Interior Ministry we
arrange for their international search and, once they have been tracked
down, take measures using Foreign Ministry resources to secure their
detention," Zvyagintsev said.
According to the senior official, last year alone the Russian
Prosecutor-General's Office dispatched over 500 requests to other
countries for the extradition of suspects.
"An absolute majority of such requests goes to the CIS countries,"
Zvyagintsev said.
Last year other countries made decisions in favor of the extradition
of 289 accused persons to Russia.
"Escapees of means usually select industrialized countries with
liberal legislations. Many ask for asylum ostensibly for political reasons
for the sole purpose of gaining immunity from extradition to the Russian
judiciary," Zvyagintsev said.
"The greatest number of runaway offenders is in Israel and Britain.
Incidentally, the latter's capital is quite often referred to as
Londongrad. As you may have guessed, it is a shelter not for ordinary
pickpockets, but persons of means," he remarked.
The list of countries where escapees tend to take refuge grew
considerably of late. Ever more often they set eyes on some exotic
countries, with which Russia has no extradition agreements. For instance,
Russia had to request extraditions on the condition of reciprocity from
such countries as Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Cambodia and Nicaragua.
"On the list of those extradited there are accomplices to both high-
and low-profile criminal cases. For instance, Spain has extradited one
Gasayev, held responsible for serial killings, and also several persons
involved in the theft of three fishing boats. The Czech Republic has
extradited one Burshtein, charged with the theft of 20 million dollars,
and Germany, a man wanted for intentional bankruptcy and embezzlement of
one billion rubles.
Alongside the CIS member-states such countries as Germany, Spain,
France, the Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland, Italy and Austria agreed
to act on extradition requests most often over the past three years.

-0-str