Justice Ministry starts negotiations with Russia on extradition of political prisoners

The Ukrainian Justice Ministry has launched negotiations on the extradition of political prisoners – Oleh Sentsov, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Hennadiy Afanasyev, and Yuriy Soloshenko from Russia to Ukraine. 

Deputy Justice Minister Serhiy Petukhov said this during TSN TV program.

"We have got the first response from the Russian Federation that they have accepted our request for consideration, that they are checking all the facts in the case, and then they will give us an answer as soon as they have certain data. We have called on them to accelerate the consideration of these cases,” Petukhov said.

According to the procedure, the convicted Ukrainians have to agree with a verdict of Russian judges, however, this doesn’t mean the recognition of their guilt. The lawyer of Sentsov and Kolchenko, Dmytro Dindze, explained that his clients could be only asked whether they agree to be extradited.

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