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Cyprus court denies bail to Russian-German national wanted in US for illegal export

At the next hearings, scheduled for November 6-7, the court will consider the US request for Arthur Petrov’s extradition

LARNACA, October 30. /TASS/. The Larnaca District Court has refused to grant bail to Russian Arthur Petrov, arrested in Cyprus at the request of the United States, a TASS correspondent reports. The decision was read out by Judge Michalis Michael on Monday. The judge explained that in several other cases the accused released on bail fled the country.

"The judge, unfortunately, found insufficient the additional information we provided regarding [the circumstances of] Arthur Petrov's stay in Cyprus and the possibility of his release on bail," Petrov's lawyer Ilias Stephanou told TASS. "For this reason, the decision was made to keep the Russian in custody."

At the next hearings, scheduled for November 6-7, the court will consider the US request for Petrov’s extradition. A representative of the Cypriot Ministry of Justice said that after studying the materials brought from the United States in support of Petrov’s extradition it will be possible to continue the legal procedures on the issue.

Petrov, who also has German citizenship, was arrested in Cyprus on August 26 at the request of Washington on charges of illegal export of US-manufactured microelectronics to Russia. According to the US Department of Justice, Petrov, 34, "allegedly participated in an illicit procurement network," which after the start of the special military operation in Ukraine "illegally procured large quantities of sensitive microelectronics for a Russian company." The ministry claimed that these activities were conducted to circumvent US restrictions on the supply of certain types of high-tech equipment to Russia.

Petrov himself said earlier that he believed his case was politically motivated. He stated that the US was persecuting him for being a "Russian businessman".

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