A lawyer representing Russian IT specialist Alexander Vinnik has urged the federal government in Moscow to debate a possible trade of prisoners with the USA, the place he was not too long ago extradited. The French authorized professional is satisfied solely a return to his homeland may save Vinnik who has deteriorating well being after solitary confinement in France and starvation strikes in Greece.
Vinnik’s Lawyer Asks Russian Overseas Minister Lavrov to Begin Negotiations With Washington
One of many legal professionals of Alexander Vinnik, alleged operator of BTC-e who has been accused of laundering over $4 billion by way of the now defunct cryptocurrency trade, has urged Russian authorities to barter including his shopper to a attainable prisoner swap take care of Washington.
Frederic Belot, a member of Vinnik’s protection crew who represented him in French courts, has issued his name in a letter addressed to Russian Overseas Minister Sergei Lavrov, Reuters reported on Monday after seeing the correspondence.
“Now the one factor that may save Alexander is for the Russian Federation to enter into negotiations with the American authorities inside the framework of the trade of prisoners between the international locations talked about,” Belot stresses within the letter emailed to the Ministry of Overseas Affairs in Moscow. The division declined to remark.
The transfer comes after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed in July that the American aspect had made Moscow a “substantial provide” for the discharge of U.S. residents at the moment held in Russia. Amongst them, basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan.
Alexander Vinnik was arrested on a U.S. warrant in 2017, within the Greek metropolis of Thessaloniki the place he arrived on a summer time trip together with his household. After reviewing a number of extradition requests, together with one from Russia, Greek authorities determined to first hand him over to France the place he not too long ago served a five-year sentence for cash laundering.
French authorities returned the Russian to Greece which shortly transferred him to the USA in early August. Then he appeared in a federal court docket in San Francisco and was reportedly denied launch on bail. His protection had warned earlier that an extradition to America would make him a hostage of the tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Vinnik Stated to Undergo From Reminiscence Loss Because of Extended Isolation in French Jail
Frederic Belot emphasised that Alexander Vinnik has repeatedly denied and continues to disclaim all the fees towards him. The lawyer insisted that after his imprisonment in solitary confinement in France, the 43-year-old Russian suffers from partial lack of reminiscence because of the stress of isolation, as established by psychiatrists.
The U.S. Division of Justice describes the crypto trade allegedly owned and operated by Vinnik, BTC-e, as a “vital cybercrime and on-line cash laundering entity” which supplied providers to prison actors. He can now obtain as much as 55 years in jail, based mostly on the fees towards him. “This time period for Alexander is tantamount to life,” Belot warned.
Reuters remarks that Russia has repeatedly indicated it’s concerned in “quiet diplomacy” with the U.S. concerning a prisoner swap. One other Russian citizen not too long ago extradited to America, the 29-year-old co-founder of coin buying and selling platforms Coyote Crypto and Eggchange, Denis Dubnikov, has been accused of laundering ransomware funds in cryptocurrency on behalf of cybercriminals concentrating on hospitals in the USA.
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