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French Foreign Ministry says Russian national Vinnik’s case is outside its purview

On January 23, the Greek Council of State confirmed the decision to extradite Vinnik to France, and then to the United States and Russia

PARIS, January 24. /TASS/. The French Foreign Ministry believes that the case of Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik who has been extradited from Greece to France is the purview of the judicial authorities, the ministry’s spokesperson said at a press briefing on Friday.

"The issue at hand is the current legal procedure," the diplomat said answering a question from TASS. "That’s why we advise you to contact representatives of justice bodies."

On Friday, the Russian national’s Defense Attorney Timofei Musatov informed TASS that a French court would hold a hearing on the case of Alexander Vinnik on January 28. For her part, Vinnik’s French attorney Ariane Zimra told TASS that she was concerned about his health. She noted that the Russian national who continued his hunger strike was mentally and physically exhausted, adding that he is currently at the Hotel-Dieu hospital in Paris.

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Russian embassy in Greece receives notification of Vinnik’s extradition to France

IT specialist 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 that Vinnik be extradited to the United States and France. Russia is also seeking his extradition, and there is a corresponding verdict of the Greek Supreme Court. Vinnik dismissed all the charges brought against him and agreed to be extradited to Russia.

On December 19, 2019, Greek Justice Minister Konstantinos Tsiaras decided to extradite Vinnik to France and then the United States and Russia. Vinnik’s defense attorneys filed several complains with the Council of State, the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece. 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. On January 23, the Greek Council of State confirmed the decision to extradite Vinnik to France, and then to the United States and Russia.

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