Slovakia has extradited Chechen Hamzat S., whom Russia
suspects of terrorism, to Sweden where he and his relatives were granted
political asylum.
The extradition proceeding started after Slovakia’s Supreme
Court decided in early November that he cannot be deported to Russia, the
Police Corps Presidium’s spokesperson Martin Wäldl confirmed to the SITA
newswire.
Hamzat S. was detained on January 15, 2015 at the border
crossing in Vyšné Nemecké (Košice Region) after he showed a passport issued in
Sweden during a passport check. He ended up in custody and has been waiting for
nearly two years for the courts to decide on his case.
Russia issued an international arrest warrant on him in 2007
as it suspected him of committing a terrorist attack in Grozny in August 2004
where he and another 40 armed people had tried to mar the election of a new
Chechen president.
Hamzat however refuted the claims, saying that the
accusations had been made up as the Russian authorities were only trying to
learn the whereabout of his brother Aslan, who was member of the Chechen rebels
and held a high post in the security forces during the rule of the unrecognised
Chechen Republic of Aslan Maskhadov, SITA reported.
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