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Odessa Appeals Court adjourns hearing of extradition of Putin’s suspected assailant

The court said the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office must supply documents to prove the identity of the 31-year-old Chechen Adam Osmayev
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

ODESSA, August 10 (Itar-Tass) — The Odessa Appeals Court adjourned on Friday until August 14 the hearing of the extradition of Adam Osmayev suspected of planning an attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin to Russia. The court said the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office must supply documents to prove the identity of the 31-year-old Chechen.

Russia appealed to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office in May for the extradition of suspects it wanted for a number of felonies. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office raised no objections, but the Adam Osmayev defense appealed to the Odessa Malinovsky District Court. The court confirmed the legality of the extradition on August 3. The defense appealed the ruling.

“Osmayev’s identity has not been confirmed as yet. He came to Ukraine with a fake passport and has no other identification document. Russia has not provided official documents to confirm his identity and citizenship. No DNA tests have been held either,” human rights defender Valery Kochetov said.

Ukraine did not grant political asylum to Osmayev. “This request is being heard at an administrative court. Another reason why he cannot be extradited as that his criminal case opened in Ukraine is not complete,” he said.

Detectives said that Osmayev and his two accomplices hiding from Russia’s Federal Security Service stealthily came to Ukraine and rented an apartment. They were making explosives while hiding. An explosion occurred in the rented apartment in January 2012, and a fire started. One of the accomplices, Ruslan Madayev, died in the fire, and the other, Kazakh citizen Ilya Pyanzin, was taken to the hospital’s intensive care unit with burns. He told the police they were planning terror attacks in Russia. Osmayev was injured but managed to escape. He was caught only on February 4.

He told the investigators they were experimenting with explosives but denied working for the Imarat Caucasus terrorist organization and planning an attack on Putin.