Moskalkova ready to ask U.S. to drop Vinnik extradition request
MOSCOW. April 18 (Interfax) - Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova will ask the United States to drop the extradition request for Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik, who is incarcerated in Greece.
"I am ready to file this statement," the commissioner's press service quoted Moskalkova as saying.
Vinnik could be extradited to Russia if the United States drops its request, she said.
A Greek court granted the Vinnik extradition request of the United States in October 2017. Later on, the Supreme Court in Athens upheld the ruling as lawful.
The Greek police detained Vinnik in July 2017 at the request of the United States, which accused him of cyber fraud, operating a BTC-e web service, and laundering about $4 billion. Two months later Russia charged Vinnik with fraud, and the Russian Prosecutor General's Office filed a request for his extradition with Greece. Vinnik's defense repeatedly appealed the court ruling, which granted the United States' extradition request. It was reported in early July that Paris also demanded the extradition of Vinnik on suspicion of stealing personal data.