The children of alleged BTC-e mastermind Alexander Vinnik have filed a complaint with a Greek court alleging that their father’s rights are being violated. The children filed the complaint through Vinnik’s lawyers, seeking to stop his planned extradition to France.
Vinnik was arrested 30 months ago and since then, the battle for his extradition has pitted his home country of Russia against the U.S and France. The U.S wants him to undergo trial for allegedly laundering over $4 billion, while France wants him for cyber-crime. Russia, on the other hand, is more lenient and only charges him with minor offences. Greece, where he has been for the past 30 months, is caught in the three-way tussle.
Now, even the children have voiced their concern. The three- and six-year-old kids reportedly seek to stop his planned extradition to France, and later the U.S.
Vinnik’s top lawyer Timofey Musatov, who filed the complaint, believes that Greece intends on violating his rights despite the latest complaint. Speaking to Russian outlet Ria Novosti, he stated, “They can extradite Alexander, despite the fact that an additional complaint was filed by Alexander’s children yesterday regarding the violation of his rights. The adoption of the complaint allows holding the extradition until its consideration.”
Musatov claimed that the Greek authorities planned on extraditing Vinnik last weekend. He pointed to the heightened security protocols in his hospital room where he is held in solitary confinement.
“There were always 12-15 internal security officers, plus This is now the external security, it’s special forces armed with grenades, assault rifles, everything. Three of them were constantly accompanying me, plus all the entrances and exits to the hospital were monitored. Everywhere the special forces were armed to the teeth, and this concerns Vinnik. Everything is very serious.”
The Russian lawyer further revealed that the authorities have denied Vinnik’s mother access to his room. The guards who denied her access claimed that they were acting under the orders of higher authorities and that their hands were tied.
Musatov believes that Russian authorities are the only hope left for Vinnik. He called on his country to act fast and rescue “Mr. Bitcoin” – as he was popularly known- before he’s extradited to other countries who plan on using him in an information war against Russia. Vinnik loves his country and he’d rather die than be used by its enemies against it, Musatov claimed. This was the reason he had gone on a hunger strike, stating that ‘he wouldn’t go there alive.’
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