MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. Moscow thinks it inadmissible the Russian national Yuri Yefremov might be extradited to the United States where he will probably face "justice American style," Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ombudsman for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Konstantin Dolgov said on Wednesday.
"The information received by the Russian Foreign Ministry from Finland’s authorities that the Russian citizen, Yuri Yefremov, was detained at a request of the US authorities arouses deep concern," Dolgov said. "The case has become the fourth registered in the Finnish territory this year."
Along with this, Dolgov has pointed out that the US imposes its extraterritorial jurisdiction on a Russian national, which runs counter to commonly recognized norms of international law.
"Washington has been stubbornly ignoring the 1999 US-Russian Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, which envisages a clearly-defined mechanism on exchanges of information about suspected persons," he said.
"We believe Yefremov’s extradition to the United States is inadmissible as he may come across openly politicized and biased justice American style as well as may face illegal measures of physical and psychological pressure for obtaining the required testimony," the diplomat said. "We expect that Helsinki will take into consideration all our repeated explanations to the issue."
"We call on the Finnish side to strictly abide by constitutional guarantees and norms of international law in the sphere of human rights and consular relations to which Yefremov is entitled," he said in a commentary. "Russia’s Embassy to Finland will continue to provide Yefremov with any required consular and legal assistance and to seek the observation of his rights and legitimate interests."
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has advised to compatriots, who are planning trips abroad, to estimate all the risks, especially if there are grounds the US law enforcement agencies might have certain claims against them.