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Polish court greenlights extradition of Russian executive accused of fraud to Russia

The judge clarified that the court had agreed with new charges pressed against Chernyakov in Russia, which would be considered by the Russian justice system after his extradition to Russia
Warsaw District Court EPA/PAWEL SUPERNAK
Warsaw District Court
© EPA/PAWEL SUPERNAK

WARSAW, October 22. /TASS/. The Warsaw District Court has announced its decision on Tuesday to allow extradition of Russian citizen Andrei Chernyakov charged with large-scale embezzlement in Russia who has been awaiting this extradition in a Polish prison for almost two years, TASS reports from the courtroom.

The judge clarified that the court had agreed with new charges pressed against Chernyakov in Russia, which would be considered by the Russian justice system after his extradition to Russia.

"I am content with the court’s decision," the defendant said, underlining that he was "tired of this bedlam."

The court did not deliver a decisive and ultimate verdict, it can still be appealed. Chernyakov’s defense attorney noted that he would be consulting with his client on this issue.

The Russian himself told the court hearing that he wanted to have the proceedings completed as soon as possible. "I strive to have this all ended as soon as possible. I don’t believe in the Polish judiciary system. I understand that all cases were merged into one. That is why I will be sent to Yekaterinburg. Nevertheless, I want to go to Russia since justice has at least some meaning there," he addressed the court.

Chernyakov case

Chernyakov is a former head of a large construction company Cosmos (Kosmos), which specialized in transport infrastructure. He was charged with siphoning off 11 bln rubles ($172.6 mln), which he received as a loan back in 2011 for building a tunnel in Moscow. He failed to pay back this loan. Later, the businessman was put on Interpol’s international wanted list. In December 2017, Chernyakov was detained by Polish border guards upon an international warrant at Warsaw’s airport. He was planning to flee to Kiev and showed a fake Romanian passport at the border control.