Bulgarian MEP Radan Kanev (EPP) called on Wednesday (17 August) for the European Commission to issue a clear recommendation to EU member states to stop all procedures for extradition of Russian citizens from the EU to Russia.
The move is aimed at preventing the extradition to Russia of Alexei Alchin, a Russian national who burned his passport in Bulgaria in protest against the war in Ukraine. He is likely to be extradited to his country of origin following the decision of a Bulgarian court.
Possible extradition of Russian national from Bulgaria raises eyebrows
A Russian national who burned his passport in Bulgaria in protest against the war in Ukraine is likely to be extradited to his country of origin after a decision of a Bulgarian court.
“All guarantees provided by the Russian Federation on human rights issues are nothing more than empty declarations, and any Russian citizen participating in open anti-war and opposition activities is not only at risk of torture, humiliation and inhumane treatment, but is even threatened with an effective, if not officially pronounced, death sentence”, Kanev wrote in a letter to the European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
The MEP called on the Commission to issue a clear recommendation to all member states to suspend all pending and future extradition procedures for citizens of Russia, especially in cases where these citizens oppose the regime in the Kremlin.
The initiative is now gathering signatures among MEPs.
Russia requested that Alchin be extradited to his homeland in connection with an investigation into tax fraud. Alchin and his wife, Olga Gyurova, are convinced the Russian request is politically motivated.
The website OFFNews cited a letter from the Ministry of Justice to the Prosecutor’s Office that the documents for the extradition of Alchin were brought “personally by hand” by an employee of the Russian Embassy.
Citizens organised a protest in front of the Courthouse on Tuesday against the extradition decision. They carried posters, reading: ‘This is not Moscow’, ‘Free Alchin’ and ‘Freedom for Alexei Alchin! Shame on you – judges, prosecutors, servants of the Kremlin’.
In addition, members of the public and journalists sent an open letter to President Rumen Radev, in which they warn that Alchin’s extradition “will be a serious blow to Bulgaria’s authority in the democratic world.”
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
Source: euractiv.com
