ATHENS, January 17. /TASS/. Russian national Alexander Vinnik’s defense has called for a more active involvement of Russia in his case, his lawyer Timofei Musatov told reporters on Thursday. Vinnik has been in custody in a Greek prison since July 2017.
The lawyer stated that he had visited Vinnik at a prison hospital, where he is undertaking a hunger strike that has lasted 28 days so far. "I insisted on Alexander Vinnik undergoing urgent medical tests, as a result of which it was found that Alexander, who is already in a weakened condition, had lost 17 additional kilograms, and his blood disease is progressing. Alexander is under increased vigilance, the regime is extremely strict. His mother came with me to Athens, she was only allowed to be with her son for half an hour, after which they attempted to remove us from his cell and from the prison’s premises, citing an unnamed general," Musatov said.
He added that the defense plans to file a complaint regarding this incident. "We would like to note that not only is Alexander kept in conditions akin to torture, Greece is trying to cover it up as well. We expect the Russian Federation to take on a more involved role in this process and to send a statement to the [Greek] Council of State, making its stance known," the attorney said.
Looming threat of extradition
According to the lawyer, Vinnik’s time in custody should end on January 26, when the maximum period of pre-trial custody (30 months) runs out. "Next week will be a turning point: either he is extradited, or he is free and sent home," Musatov noted, adding that the court can present a closed-session verdict at any moment.
"We left the court at five in the evening and we know that the court has not made any decisions. However, a council of judges may meet on Friday without notifying or inviting the attorneys in order to consult and create an illusion of having studied all the proof that we have presented and having an objective outlook on the situation. The court might then give a verdict, after which prison guards might come to Alexander’s cell, show him the verdict and take him away. This may take place at any moment," the attorney stressed. He noted that Vinnik’s hunger strike would not change much. "The doctors will come and say that he will be fine, he can survive the trip. Anything can happen," the lawyer said.
Musatov informed that on Thursday, Vinnik’s defense filed a claim with the Greek State Council (the Supreme Administrative Court) regarding the unfair prosecution of Vinnik. However, he noted that this claim might only be considered nominally, with the court approving the decision of the Greek minister of justice on the Russian national’s subsequent extradition to France, the US and then to Russia.
Vinnik case
Vinnik was detained while vacationing in Greece on July 25, 2017 at the United States’ request, where he is accused of laundering four to nine billion US dollars through a no longer existent Internet exchange of cryptocurrencies BTC-e. The Thessaloniki court of appeals and the Greek Supreme Court ruled Vinnik be extradited to the United States and France. Russia is also seeking his extradition and has a corresponding verdict of the Greek Supreme Court. Vinnik denied Washington’s and Paris’ charges and agreed to be extradited to Russia.
On December 20, 2019, Greek Justice Minister Konstantinos Tsiaras delivered a decision to extradite Vinnik to France, the United States and Russia. It means that Vinnik is to be extradited first to France to consider his case and pronounce the verdict. After that, he is to be taken back to Greece to be later extradited to the United States for a similar procedure, which is to be followed by extradition to Russia. Following this decision, Vinnik went on another hunger strike.
Vinnik’s Greek defense attorney Zoe Konstantopoulou told reporters on December 23 that the chairperson of the Council of State’s (Greece’s Supreme Administrative Court) fourth department had issued a temporary order to suspend enforcement of the decision to extradite Alexander Vinnik to France, the US and Russia, "recognizing the danger" the man would face in case of his extradition. However, on the following day, the Council of State’s president questioned the department’s judgement and ruled to refer Vinnik’s case to an expanded panel of judges on January 10, 2020.
On January 10, the panel of judges rejected all claims by Vinnik’s defense, which demanded that the previous decision of the Greek justice minister on his extradition to France, the US and then Russia be cancelled. The court has given the attorneys until January 16 to present additional documents in Vinnik’s defense.