Bulgaria Court to Sit on 'Putin Opponent' Extradition

Crime | October 21, 2014, Tuesday // 08:54
Bulgaria: Bulgaria Court to Sit on 'Putin Opponent' Extradition Nikolai Kobliakov. Photo by BGNES

Sofia City Court is to hold a sitting Tuesday on the extradition of businessman and activist Nikolai Kobliakov to Russia.

The final ruling was adjourned in September after the court decided to require information from Russian authorities as to which version of the Russian Criminal Code was used to indict Kobliakov.

According to the Russian prosecution, Kobliakov, a Russian-French citizen, was involved in a fraud for EUR 1.2 M. Human rights organizations, however, claim he is being prosecuted for political reasons.

The extradition request is based on an article from the 1996 Criminal Code, while the indictment contains an excerpt from legislation dating March 07, 2011, Bulgarian magistrates say.

It is therefore "impossible" to tell which was the law in force at the time when Kobliakov was indicted, the website Dnevnik.bg quotes judge Desislav Lyubomirov as saying.

Moscow is also to answer whether it has granted amnesty for the alleged wrongdoing the defendant is accused of.

Koblyakov has been in Bulgaria since early in August, when authorities detained him as he was entering the country at the Sofia Airport.

He remained in custody for 72 hours and was first imposed house arrest in September, but was released on a recognizance order

Kobliakov, who portrays himself as a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, earlier also sought asylum in Bulgaria.

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Tags: recognizance, Sofia Airport, Sofia City Court, extradition, Russia, Nikolai Kobliakov, Asylum

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