MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. Russian diplomats are making efforts to prevent the extradition of Russian citizen Sergei Mironov from Armenia to the United States and secure his speedy return home, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Konstantin Dolgov said on the Rossiya 24 TV channel on Monday.
"Our embassy in Yerevan keeps the situation under tight control, is doing whatever is necessary ...," he said. "The story is not over yet. Of course, we are working in order to prevent the extradition of the Russian citizen to the United States, so that he could return to his homeland."
"I’d like to emphasize once again that our citizens that are arrested in this manner in third countries and then extradited to the United States face, as a rule, an absolutely biased justice that can hardly be called justice. Pressure is often exerted on them," Dolgov said, adding that this "is an absolutely illegal practice that violates the United States’ international obligations."
"We’ll be pressing on the American authorities to make them abandon such practices," the diplomat said.
Earlier on Monday, a court in Yerevan turned down the prosecution motion for the arrest of Russian citizen Sergei Mironov who has been put on the international wanted list by the American authorities, the Russian citizen’s lawyer said.
Armenia’s police said earlier on Monday that Mironov was detained in the Armenian capital at the request of the American side.
The Russian citizen’s lawyer Karen Nersesyan said on the Rossiya 24 TV channel earlier on Monday that the search for Mironov on suspicion of illegal trade in weapons was conducted by the American side with violations, so Mironov should be extradited to Russia, and not to the United States.