Court rules in favor of extradition of cybercrime suspect to Russia

A council of appeals in Thessaloniki on Monday accepted a Russian request for the extradition of Alexander Vinnik, a former bitcoin operator who Moscow accuses of cyberattacks against Russian banks resulting in damages of around 750 million roubles.

This was a supplementary request from Russia, after another court in 2017 said he should be extradited to Russia for a fraud case.

The 39-year-old was arrested in northern Greece last year on a US-issued international arrest warrant. So far the Greek justice system has accepted extradition requests from Russia, the US and France.

Earlier this month, a Thessaloniki court accepted accepted a French request for Vinnik for cybercrimes, money laundering, membership in a criminal organization and extortion.

In December 2017, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a US extradition request in connection with a 4-billion-dollar bitcoin fraud case.

In cases of competing requests, the final decision is taken by Greece’s justice minister.