The strange case reached the Appeals Council in the previous days. Is Ukraine a safe country for a “fugitive”?
A strange court story unfolded in recent weeks in Athens, with a central figure a young Israelithe extradition of which was requested by an international warrant Ukraine. The offense he was charged with was trivial – possession of 2.3 g. cannabis in five improvised cigarettes. Nevertheless, from the Greek side, the case had to reach the Appeals Council, so that the level of danger to the life of the Israeli in the event of his extradition to war-torn Ukraine.
The 35-year-old was arrested last February at the airport of Athens, as it was found that a decision of the Prymorskyi Court of Odessa was pending against him. “I left Ukraine legally”he said, however he was arrested. There was an Interpol Red Notice in his name and the file sent by the Ukrainians to Athens stated that he was being prosecuted for “smuggling of a particularly dangerous drug”as stipulated in Article 305 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, an offense punishable by eight to ten years.
Things seem to have been somewhat different, going back five years. The warrant describes that the 35-year-old Israeli had arrived from Tel Aviv to Odessa on the morning flight on August 23, 2019. During the check, a pack of Marlboro Gold in his bag was found five homemade cigarettes with raw cannabis, a total weight of 2.34 grams, which he had sprayed with cologne. He left the country with the file open at the regional court of Odessa.
After the arrest of the 35-year-old in Athens, the Ukrainians normally started all the prescribed procedure. In fact, the document of the Attorney General is attached to the warrant, which states in formal, official style that the wanted person will have a fair trial and will not be prosecuted for political, racial or religious reasons. The Israeli stayed for two months prisoner in Korydallos and last week he appeared before the relevant Board of Appeals to have his extradition decided.
In the memorandum he submitted, he stated that he possessed the 2.3 gr. prescription cannabis and that after his arrest in Ukraine, he had left the country legally, contacting a lawyer about the development of the case. After the Russian invasion, the lawyer reportedly informed him that all legal proceedings had ceased as the country was at war. The Israeli said he does not wish to be extradited to the Odessa court and in addition that in the event that the region passes under Russian control, he himself, because of his nationality, he will suffer torture or death.
The Board of Appeal blocked the extradition, on the grounds that the country is at war. “The request for extradition from Ukraine and specifically to the Odesa region against the Israeli citizen that arrived at the Athens Appeals Prosecutor’s Office, could have been dealt with from the beginning with restrictive conditions and not with temporary detention”, they commented to NEWS247 the Israeli defense attorneys, Thodoris Karagiannis and Androula Paraschou.
“It would be legally untenable and humanitarianly unacceptable to extradite a person to a country at war and in fact to be tried in an area which is currently the ground zero of the conflicts and every day there are crossfires. It could not be left without comment that the act for which Ukraine requested our principal, may have been treated as a crime, but it involved a small amount of drugs and was carried out in 2019, that is, in pre-war conditions.” they added.
