Extradition in the Nord Stream case: Italy will hand over Ukrainian Kuznetsov to Germany
Кузнєцов
The Court of Appeal of Bologna, Italy, has ruled to extradite to Germany Ukrainian citizen Serhiy Kuznetsov, who is suspected of involvement in the explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022.
This was reported by Reuters and ANSA , citing the suspect’s lawyer, Nicola Canestrini.
The Ukrainian’s defense was categorically against his transfer to the German side. Canestrini emphasized that there are “serious problems with detention conditions” in German prisons, so the Italian authorities should require additional checks before making a decision. According to him, Kuznetsov did not have access to his case materials in Germany, despite repeated requests.
The lawyer also emphasized the political and military context of the incriminated actions, stating that they could be part of operations related to an international armed conflict. He recalled that a court in Poland had previously refused to extradite another suspect in the same case, 49-year-old Volodymyr Zhuravlev, recognizing his functional immunity as a person acting within the framework of a military operation.
“If we are talking about the actions of Ukrainians who defended themselves from illegal aggression in accordance with international law, they cannot fall under the scope of the European arrest warrant,” Canestrini emphasized.
Despite the defense’s arguments, the Italian appeals court upheld the extradition decision. Thus, 49-year-old Kuznetsov will be handed over to German authorities.
The lawyer has already announced his intention to appeal the verdict at the Italian Court of Cassation, the country’s highest court. In his opinion, the previous court did not take into account the precedent of the decision of its Polish colleagues and “violated the principle of mutual trust between EU countries.”
Canestrini also alleged a number of procedural violations, including the use of evidence obtained in a case that the Court of Cassation itself had previously declared invalid.
“It’s not just about the fate of one suspect, but about trust in the entire European justice system,” the lawyer concluded.
Recall that back in August , Italian police detained Ukrainian citizen Serhiy K. on suspicion of involvement in the explosions of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022.
It was also previously reported that Italy is preparing another, already 12th, package of military support for Ukraine , which will focus mainly on the supply of ammunition and missiles for SAMP/T air defense systems.
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