KIEV, August 23 (Itar-Tass) — The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office will refrain from extradition to Russia of Adam Osmayev, suspected of masterminding the plot to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, pending the decision by the European court on legality of such a move, Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka stated in Odessa.
"We'll wait for the European court's decision, and then the Prosecutor General's Office will make decisions of its own," Pshonka noted.
On August 14, the appeals court of the Odessa region ruled to extradite Osmayev to Russia and turned down the suspect's complaint. However, Ukraine then suspected the extradition following recommendations by the European court of human rights.
Spokesperson for the Ukrainian prosecutor general Margarita Velkova, "Osmayev's defense complained to the European court over the ruling by the appeals court of the Odessa region, which had issued the resolution to extradite the suspect to Russia."
Osmayev is trying to avoid extradition to Russia. Earlier, the Ukrainian office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported that Osmayev had asked Ukraine to grant him political asylum. His common-law wife Amina Okuyeva said the migration service had refused to review his request.
Okuyeva told a Ukrainian television channel on Wednesday that Osmayev had asked Georgia for political asylum.
She said the documents requesting political asylum are already under review by Georgian officials. "If Georgia refuses political asylum to Osmayev, he will forward a similar request to Finland," she added.
In February, Osmayev, a 31-year-old resident of Grozny, was detained in Ukraine on suspicions of illegal keeping of explosives; police also ascertained his involvement in preparing an assassination attempt on the life of Vladimir Putin.
On February 27, media outlets reported that an assassination plot against Putin had been exposed. On January 4, an explosion ripped through an apartment in Odessa, and two days later, Ukraine's Security Service advised its FSB colleagues. Police found in the apartment bomb parts. Ruslan Madayev, who had rented the apartment, was killed in the explosion while the second victim, Ilya Pyanzin, survived.
They came to Odessa together from the United Arab Emirates via Turkey with "clear instructions from representatives of terrorist Doku Umarov.
Adam Osmayev, who was injured in the blast, escaped. Odessa police then asked citizens to help find two very dangerous criminals: Adam Osmayev and Aslanbek Osmayev, natives of Chechnya.
In a joint operation by Russian and Ukrainian secret services, Adam Osmayev was detained in an Odessa apartment. He had been wanted by Interpol since 2007.
He began to cooperate with the investigators and told them that the "final objective was to come to Moscow and try to assassinate premier Putin."
Osmayev said he had no intention to become a suicide bomber, and that Ruslan Madayev was ready to become one.
According to secret services, Osmayev lived in London for a long time. He was terrorists' liaison man in Odessa and an instructor. He had to train terrorists and ferry them to Moscow.