Greece’s Council of State dominated for the extradition to France of former operator of now-shuttered crypto trade BTC-e and Russian nationwide Al
Greece’s Council of State dominated for the extradition to France of former operator of now-shuttered crypto trade BTC-e and Russian nationwide Alexander Vinnik.
English-language native information outlet Greek Reporter reported on the court docket’s choice on Jan. 23. Yesterday, Russian information company TASS reported that Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov protested:
“The choice to extradite him to France is inadmissible so long as no explanations have been offered why he’s not extradited to Russia. His household has been damaged up, his proper to life and well being violated. Greece is obliged to carry prisoners in situations that don’t enable torture and bullying.”
Vinnik’s alleged crimes
As Cointelegraph reported in late-July 2017, Vinnik was arrested throughout a trip in Greece by native police and accused of heading a gaggle that laundered $four billion in Bitcoin (BTC) over the course of six years.
Vinnik is believed to have a direct relationship with the notorious hack of cryptocurrency trade Mt. Gox. The Bitcoin obtained by way of the heist was reportedly not solely laundered by BTC-e but additionally have been on Vinnik’s pockets. The full quantity is 300,000 BTC. The MtGox trustee additionally contacted the United States Division of Justice seeking details about Alexander Vinnik, the alleged former operator of BTC-e in early October 2019.
Earlier this week, his legal professionals for Alexander Vinnik filed a grievance alleging violation of their defendant’s rights.
The litigation over the place Vinnik needs to be extradited to has concerned many nations and shortly grew to become a significant diplomatic ordeal. Russia has each filed a number of requests with Greek judicial authorities and asked for help from the United Nations Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights in an try to deliver him underneath its jurisdiction.
Vinnik was first indicted by the U.S. in July 2017. The Supreme Civil and Prison Court docket of Greece later ruled for his extradition to Russia in September 2018. In July 2018, nonetheless, a Greek court docket ruled to extradite him to France. Now, that is the place Vinnik seems to be headed.