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US court to resume pretrial hearings into Russian citizen Vinnik’s case next year

By that time, the process of providing the suspect with files of his case should be completed

NEW YORK, December 17. /TASS/. The United States District Court for the Northern District of California will hold the next round of pretrial hearings into the case of Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik on February 14, 2023.

During the session held via the Zoom video communication platform on Friday, Judge Susan Illston announced that the next session will be held on February 14, 2023.

By that time, the process of providing the suspect with files of his case should be completed, she added.

Earlier, Vinnik’s defense team asked the court to set a 60-day deadline for the process, since it has already continued for more than four months.

The court did not consider changing his measure of pretrial restraint, so the Russian citizen will remain in custody.

The date of hearings on merits has not been set yet.

In December 2020 a Paris court sentenced Vinnik to five years in prison on money laundering charges. The Russian was sent to Greece in August and immediately after extradited to the US. In Russia Vinnik is accused of stealing more than 600,000 rubles (about $9,000) and fraud of 750,000 rubles (about $12,000). The Russian said he wanted to stand trial in Russia.

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