Odesa - Odesa Regional Court of Appeals has upheld the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office decision to extradite Ilya Pyanzin, the second suspect in a planned attempt upon the life of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A court source told Interfax-Ukraine the ruling was made on August 20.
“The court rejected the defense appeal of the Prosecutor General’s Office decision to extradite Pyanzin to Russia for standing trial on suspicion of grave crimes. Thereby the Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of Odesa Malynivsky District Court, which called lawful the decision of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office to extradite Pyanzin to Russia,” the source said.
It was reported earlier that several internationally wanted men were detained in a special operation in Odesa on February 4, 2012. They are suspected of a bomb attack in Odesa on January 4, 2012, in which Ruslan Madayev, a 26-year-old Russian citizen, was killed and 28-year-old Kazakh citizen Ilya Pyanzin was seriously injured.
Elements of improvised explosive devices were found at the scene of the blast. Pyanzin was detained and started actively cooperating with the investigation, saying that the group was led by Osmayev, who was detained in Odesa later in February.
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) confirmed on February 27 that Russian and Ukrainian special services averted an assassination attempt on then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office received a Russian Prosecutor General’s Office request for Osmayev’s extradition.
Osmayev is believed to have led a cell of the Caucasus Emirate terrorist organization in Odesa.
Odesa Regional Court of Appeals backed the proposal of the Russian Prosecutor’s General Office to extradite Osmayev to Russia on August 14; however, at a recommendation of the European Court of Human Rights the extradition procedure was suspended.
