Alexander Vinnik. File photoBRUSSELS, Jul 2The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) banned France from extraditing Russian Alexander Vinnik to Greece, from where he could then be transferred to the United States, Vinnik's French lawyer Frederic Belo told RIA Novosti. After being extradited to Greece, Alexander Vinnik was to be handed over to the United States… On the evening of June 29, the ECHR banned France from extraditing Alexander Vinnik to Greece,» the source said. According to him, the appeal was filed on June 29 in the morning on the basis of Article 39 of the European Convention on a person to the ECHR in Strasbourg. The lawyer explained that the extradition was planned «in complete secrecy» by France and Greece following a very controversial decision of the Court of Cassation on June 28, which rejected Vinnik's complaint without any grounds. «Since Alexander Vinnik served his sentence in full measure, in accordance with the decision of the judge on the application of punishments of 29 June, he should have been released 30 June. However, despite his lawyer's insistence on immediate release, Vinnik was not given the opportunity to leave La Sante Prison,» Belo explained.Media: the French Court of Cassation rejected the request of the Russian VinnikAccording to him, in the meantime, the Minister of Justice of Greece sent his French colleague his consent to the presentation of an American arrest warrant by the French authorities to Vinnik. “Which was done on July 1 at 16.00,” the lawyer specified. , at the moment when Vinnik was supposed to be released, he was again under arrest pending extradition,» he added. According to Belo, his client expressed his disagreement with the extradition decision. «A hearing on this matter will be held on July 6 in 14.00 (15.00 Moscow time) in the Investigation Chamber,» he said. The lawyer expressed confidence that the extradition is based solely on political motives, which the lawyer intends to prove to the Investigation Chamber. «Alexander Vinnik has been held in solitary confinement since 2017, which is real torture» , Belo explained. Vinnik was arrested on July 25, 2017 on the Halkidiki peninsula in Greece at the request of the United States. There, he is accused of violating US law and creating, without a license from the authorities of the country, the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange, through which, according to the US, billions of dollars were laundered. In the United States, Vinnik faces 55 years in prison, that is, in fact, a life sentence. The extradition of Vinnik was also demanded by Russia and France. In a Greek prison, in protest against the violation of his rights, Vinnik went on a hunger strike for more than three months. In January 2020, Russians were extradited to France.
