PARIS, May 12. /TASS/. A Paris court has rejected the appeal on Russian national Alexander Vinnik's release from custody for the duration of court proceedings on Tuesday, French lawyer Arianne Zimra informed TASS.
"Today, we have been informed that the court rejected our appeal on Vinnik’s release from custody for the duration of court proceedings," she said.
Vinnik’s defense in their appeal cited as one of the arguments the spread of the novel coronavirus, which puts their defendant’s health at risk.
Russian national Alexander 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 France and then to the United States. 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. He is currently in custody in France, awaiting extradition to the USA.
On January 28, a Paris court decided to leave Vinnik under arrest. On February 17, a court in Paris dismissed the appeal of Vinnik’s defense, choosing to keep the Russian national in custody. His mother Vera Vinnik addressed French President Emmanuel Macron with the request to ensure her son’s right to a fair trial. She handed over her letter to the Russian Embassy in Paris.