Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik was extradited from Greece to France last month to face trial, but his lawyer has claimed that Vinnik has been the subject of politically-motivated injustice by the Greek authorities. Vinnik is also wanted in the USA for laundering four to nine billion dollars through his now-defunct crypto exchange BTC-e.
Lawyer claims there has been a violation of human rights.
Zoe Konstantopoulou, the lawyer of Alexander Vinnik, accused Greek authorities of violating her client’s rights by holding him in arbitrary detention for 30 months. Zoe believes that the attack against her client stems from the fact that he dealt with cryptocurrencies. Vinnik was arrested in July 2017 in Greece at the request of US officials, and after nearly 30 months, he was extradited to France.
Vinnik wanted to face trial in Russia.
Vinnik had expressed his wish to go to his home country and face trial there, but Greek authorities denied his request as he was extradited to France last month. He is yet to face charges in the United States, where he stands accused of laundering four to nine billion US dollars using his crypto exchange BTC-e. The money laundering case also has a link to meddling in the 2016 US elections.
According to Zoe, Alexander Vinnik is currently on the 44th day of his hunger strike in protest of the gross human rights violations suffered at the hands of authorities in Greece.
