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Polish court approves extradition of suspect in Siberian mall tragedy

The extradition ruling is now to be approved by the Polish justice minister

Demolition of the Zimnyaya Vishnya mall, July 2018 TASS

Demolition of the Zimnyaya Vishnya mall, July 2018

WARSAW, July 5. /TASS/. A court in Poland has approved the extradition of Vyacheslav Vishnevsky, a former owner of the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping mall in Russia’s Siberian city of Kemerovo, where 60 people died in fire in 2018.

"Concerning the case of Vyacheslav V. [in line with the Polish law, the suspect’s second name must not be disclosed], we inform that the District Court of Warsaw has issued a ruling on legal permissibility of the wanted person’s extradition to the Russian Federation," the Warsaw District Court’s press service said on Friday.

This ruling was appealed in an appellate court, but the Warsaw Court of Appeal supported the decision, and it has already entered force.

In line with the Polish law, the extradition ruling is now to be approved by the Polish justice minister. After that, the suspect may be extradited to Russia.

The deadly fire broke out at the Zimyaya Vishnya (or Winter Cherry) shopping mall on March 25, 2018. Sixty people, including 37 children, were killed and 79 more were injured. The investigation found that the fire was caused by a short circuit on the fourth floor, while violations of fire safety requirements, in particular inoperative fire protection systems and closed emergency exits, led to large number of victims.

Vishnevsky is among 15 suspects in a high-profile criminal case opened on the outcomes of the deadly fire. The former owner is accused of bribing a member of the region’s building inspection team. He was detained in Poland in March in line with an international arrest warrant issued by Russia.

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