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Russia views Montenegro's move to grant asylum to wanted tycoon as hostile step — envoy

Vladislav Maslennikov believes that Montenegro violated some of the provisions of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees

BELGRADE, February 9. /TASS/. Moscow views Montenegro's move to grant political asylum to businessman Telman Ismailov as a hostile step, Russian Ambassador to the Balkan country Vladislav Maslennikov told Montenegrin National Television on Wednesday.

"I haven't heard about any of his political achievements, apart from being friends with former Russian politicians and, I think, a Montenegrin one. Russia believes that Podgorica took a hostile step by granting political asylum to Mr. Ismailov, who is charged with serious crimes in Russia and is also wanted by Interpol," the envoy emphasized.

Maslennikov believes that Montenegro violated some of the provisions of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. "We expect Podgorica to extradite a number of other persons who are on the Interpol wanted list," the ambassador stressed.

On February 2, Moscow imposed an entry ban on Secretary of State of the Montenegrin Ministry of Internal Affairs Zoran Miljanic in response to Montenegro's decision to provide political asylum to Telman Ismailov.

Ismailov, a former owner of Moscow's Cherkizovsky Market, was detained in Montenegro on October 1, 2021, and arrested by a court in Podgorica. The Russia Prosecutor General's Office sent a request for his extradition. However, the businessman was granted political asylum in Montenegro and released. Russia's Investigative Committee put him on an international wanted list back in 2017. In Russia, Ismailov was charged in absentia with murder, illegal arms trafficking and the abduction of singer Avraam Russo.

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