ATHENS, July 29. /TASS/. The defense lawyers of Russian bitcoin suspect Alexander Vinnik, who has been in a Greek prison for already more than two years, will seek the reversal of the decisions to extradite him to the US or to France, given that the legislative framework in Greece has changed, Vinnik’s lawyer Timofei Musatov told TASS over the phone on Monday.

The Greek Supreme Court earlier passed separate verdicts to extradite Vinnik to the US, to France and to Russia, but they haven’t been executed. On July 11, a court council in the Greek city of Thessaloniki extended the custody of Alexander Vinnik by another six months, until January 25, 2020..

"His custody was to end on July 25. In exceptional cases, a council of judges gathers that can extend the period of custody for another six months," Musatov told TASS earlier.

According to Musatov, as Greece has seen changes in the judicial system, Vinnik has the right to have all the earlier passed decision reviewed. The most recent decision to extend his custody for half-a-year has nothing to do with the essence of the accusations, the defense lawyer said. "This is an absolutely political case, it is clear," he stressed, drawing attention to the way Vinnik’s custody term had been extended at the request of the Greek justice minister. "A council of judges was convened for this purpose, and their legislation makes it absolutely impossible to appeal against this decision," Musatov said. Nevertheless, the defense will make a try.

He pointed out that on July 1, a new criminal code and criminal procedure rules came into effect in Greece, a new justice minister and new prosecutors were appointed along with new heads of judicial agencies. "We are now doing things anew [on the Vinnik case]," Musatov said. "We have got reasons under the new circumstances and facts to revise all decisions on his extradition to the US and to France, and that’s what we are going to do," he added.

"The Greek Justice Ministry does not tackle this issue, the court does this, and a different court is doing this on each complaint. We had more than 20 cases, and each was reviewed in a different court. The cases will be reviewed in all courts," the lawyer said.

Vinnik case

Vinnik was detained in Greece on July 25, 2017 at the United States’ request, where he is accused of laundering four billion to nine billion dollars through a no longer existent Internet exchange of cryptocurrencies BTC-e. In 2017, the Greek Supreme Court ruled Vinnik should be extradited to the United States. In 2018, it first decided in favor of his extradition to Russia at the request of the Prosecutor-General’s Office, and then, to France on Paris-issued European arrest warrant.

On November 26, 2018, Vinnik went on hunger strike against judicial outrage. He claims to be a political prisoner and demands that the Greek authorities let him return to his home country. He stopped his hunger strike after three months and was hospitalized. While in hospital, he remains under police guard.

The defense lawyers lodged requests for his release with the Greek authorities, because the 18-month period a person can be kept in custody without hearing official charges expired on January 26, 2019. Article 6 of the Greek Constitution says preliminary custody can last no longer than twelve months. In exceptional cases it can be prolonged by another six months.