MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has expressed his disappointment over the extradition of Russian citizen Alexei Burkov from Israel to the US during Tuesday’s meeting with Israeli Charge d’Affairs in Russia Yacov Livne in Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed.
"During the talks, the diplomats have discussed some current issues on the Russian-Israeli bilateral agenda," the ministry noted. "The Russian side has expressed its utmost disappointment with the decision of the Israeli government to extradite Russian national Burkov to the US despite the existing request of the Russian competent bodies for his extradition to Russia. It was noted that such actions undermine the constructive partner relations that have been developing dynamically in recent years between Russia and Israel."
Russian national Alexei Burkov has been extradited from Israel to the US, he is currently in US custody pending his court verdict set to be announced later on Tuesday, the US Department of Justice informed TASS earlier.
Burkov was detained during a passport check at Washington’s request while trying to leave Israel on December 13, 2015. His case was considered by Israel’s district court behind closed doors. The American authorities insisted on his extradition as they allegedly had evidence that Burkov was complicit in cyber-crimes. Russia earlier filed a request to Israel on Burkov’s extradition.
On October 30, Israeli Justice Minister Amir Ohana signed an order on extraditing Burkov to the US. On November 3, the Russian’s attorneys lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court of Israel against the justice minister’s decision, asking it to ban the extradition. The judge ruled to suspend the extradition procedure to the US until a decision was made on this request. On November 10, the Supreme Court of Israel on Sunday rejected Burkov’s appeal. His lawyer told TASS that the decision was final and nothing would prevent his extradition to the US.