The member of the European Parliament asks the European Commission to prohibit extradition to Russia

Author:
Anna Kholodnova
Date:

On August 17, Bulgarian MEP, Radan Kanev, called on the European Commission to provide a clear recommendation to EU member states to stop all procedures for the extradition of Russian citizens from the European Union to Russia.

Euractiv writes about it.

Kanev wants to prevent the extradition to the Russian Federation of Oleksiy Alchin, a Russian citizen who burned his passport in Bulgaria as a sign of protest against the war in Ukraine. After the decision of the Bulgarian court, he will probably be extradited to his country of origin.

"All guarantees provided by the Russian Federation on Human Rights are nothing more than empty declarations, and any Russian citizen who participates in open anti-war and opposition activities is not only at risk of torture, humiliation and inhumane treatment, but even execution is an effective, if not officially announced, death sentence," Kanev wrote in a letter to the President of the European Parliament, Robert Mezzola.

The MEP called on the Commission to issue a clear recommendation to all member states to suspend all pending and future extradition procedures of Russian citizens, especially in cases where these citizens oppose the Kremlin regime.

Radan Kanev is currently collecting signatures for this initiative among MEPs.

  • Russia asked to extradite Oleksiy Alchin to his homeland to investigate tax fraud. Alchyn and his wife Olga Gyurova are sure that the Russian request is politically motivated.