An obstacle to the extradition of the owner of “Rybar” to Ukraine has been named

Montenegro may face difficulties when trying to extradite to Ukraine the founder of the Telegram channel “Rybar”, Mikhail Zvinchuk, who was previously detained in the city of Risan. Lawyer Sergei Zhorin spoke about this in an interview with NEWS.ru.

According to him, Montenegro has the right to extradite those accused in the USA, Great Britain and Ukraine. However, this requires that a number of conditions be met, including the existence of criminal prosecution documents and recognition of the alleged act as a crime under applicable law.

In addition, Zhorin drew special attention, local laws prohibit extradition to states where there is an ongoing armed conflict or a state of war or a state of emergency. “Therefore, the extradition of Zvinchuk to Ukraine under current circumstances faces a serious legislative obstacle,” he noted.

Zhorin also emphasized that the claims of foreign states against the activities of the Telegram channel do not in themselves prove the commission of a crime. According to the lawyer, Zvinchuk is under British sanctions, while American authorities have announced a reward of up to $10 million for information about the alleged interference of Rybar employees in the US elections.

At the same time, he clarified, neither sanctions nor the announced reward in themselves provide sufficient grounds for extradition.