Leader of the BYT-Batkivschyna parliamentary faction Andriy Kozhemiakin will attend a court sitting in Rome on Tuesday, April 10, during which the issue of the extradition of former Head of Kharkiv Regional State Administration and the leader of Kharkiv regional organization of the Batkivschyna Party Arsen Avakov will be considered.
"I will personally be present in court on behalf of the party’s political council to pass the party’s address to the Italian government and the court, as well as the faction’s statement and a letter from [former Ukrainian Premier] Yulia Volodymyrivna [Tymoshenko], she passed it to me so that I could read it aloud in court," Kozhemiakin said at a briefing on Monday.
He noted that the Batkivschyna Party, in its letter to the Italian government, Avakov’s lawyers, and the judges, asked for Italy not to extradite Avakov to Ukraine.
On Tuesday, March 27, reports of Avakov’s detention in Italy were confirmed. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said that it was preparing a package of documents for Avakov’s extradition to Ukraine. In this regard, the leadership of the Batkivschyna Party sent letters to the Interpol secretary general and the Italian government with a request to take into account "the obvious political motivation" behind Avakov’s criminal prosecution, and release him.
On March 29, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said that the judicial authorities in Italy had decided to place Avakov in custody for 40 days.
On January 31, charges were brought against Avakov under Part 3, Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Avakov headed Kharkiv Regional State Administration from February 2004 until February 2010. He chairs the Kharkiv regional organization of the Batkivschyna Party.
