“The active participation of Athens in another illegal act of American legal arbitrariness against a Russian is another proof of the confrontational line that the Greek leadership is following against our country”, she notes.
For “unfriendly actions” of the authorities of the Greece make the Russian Foreign Ministry on the occasion of the US extradiction of Russian programmer Alexander Vinnik or Mr Bitcoin.
In fact, the Russian Foreign Ministry speaks of a violation of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by Athens and indeed, the statement of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, M. Zakharova, posted late on 5/8 on its website, speaks of active participation of Athens in another illegal act of American legal arbitrariness against a Russian.
As stated in the statement:
“We are outraged by the unfriendly actions of the Greek authorities, which, under the US pressure, who have launched a real hunt of Russian citizens in third countries on contrived pretexts, they extradited our compatriot Alexander Vinnik for extermination in the American vigilante justice system.
At violation of Article 36 of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and contrary to the official request of the Embassy of Russia in Athens, dConsular officials of the diplomatic mission, his lawyer and translator were not allowed to meet the Russian citizen.
Repeatedly ignored (since 2017) requests of the Russian competent authorities for the extradition of the A. Vinnik at Russia as his country of nationality, as well as the Russian side’s calls for the implementation of the 1983 Convention on the Extradition of Convicted Persons, taking into account the difficult humanitarian situation in which our citizen finds himself.
The active participation of Athens in another illegal act of American legal arbitrariness against a Russian, who was arrested more than five years ago in Greece, then handed over to France, from where he was brought back to Athens only to be extradited and effectively kidnapped, is another proof of the confrontational line that the Greek leadership is following against our country.”.
Russia will not abandon its citizen to his misfortune. Russian diplomats will do everything possible to protect his legitimate rights and interests,” she concludes.
The chronicle of the case
Alexander Vinnik was arrested in Greece in 2017, at the request of USA, on money laundering charges. His extradition to the US was then approved by the Criminal Division of the Supreme Court.
It is noted that the Vinnik was arrested in 2017 at a hotel in Ouranoupoli in Halkidiki, where he was on holiday with his wife and children.
The main charge the US authorities are charging him with is that he set up the largest platform for illegal digital currency exchange, derived from ransoms collected by cyber pirates (from cyber attacks on computer systems, theft of digital currencies, tax data, etc.).
As stated in the prosecution documents, since 2011, 7 million bitcoins have been deposited on this platform and another 5.5 million withdrawn.
Vinnik is also accused by France of money laundering and extortion and in fact, the Paris court on 7/12/2020 sentenced him to five years in prison and imposed a fine of 100,000 euros.
According to French prosecutors, Vinnik created the Locky software to cause damage to 200 individuals and businesses in France between 2016 and 2018
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