Vinnik’s defence files suit against Greece’s president and Council of State members

Lawyers for the Russian Alexander Vinnik, found by a French court to be guilty of money laundering, filed a lawsuit against the judges who authorised his extradition to Paris. The hearings on the suit took place on Tuesday, 11 May.

As reported by ТАСС citing Greek lawyer Zoi Konstantopoulou, the suit is filed against former Presidents of the Council of State Athanasios Randos and Katerina Sakellaropoulou. The latter is currently the President of Greece.

Other members of the Council of State are also named in the suit.

According to the lawyer, Greece’s extradition of Vinnik to France could be regarded as “abuse of power.” Konstantopoulou stressed that the decision is not the product of a judicial ruling, but “fulfillment of directives and serving political interests and considerations.”

The lawyers noted that the current President of Greece illegally intervened in the work of the Council of State department that was reviewing Vinnik’s case.

“Sakellaropoulou took the case and urgently scheduled hearings, not giving the court enough time to prepare. Cases in courts are prepared for months and years, but here hearings were scheduled urgently — on 24 December 2019 the hearings were set for 10 January 2020. She had no right to do this,” said lawyer Nikos Konstantopoulos.

The lawyers noted that the influence from other states:

“The United States want to acquire him, arguing that he owns a digital platform that he operated with administrator rights. Moreover, Vinnik was accused of distributing malware at the very time he was in a Greek prison,” said Konstantopoulou.

She noted that Vinnik possesses “exceptionally rare technological knowledge of the blockchain used by cryptocurrencies.”

“The use of this technology liberates people from the control of states and governments, which, of course, did not please those who want to control it all. Vinnik possesses this priceless information,” said the lawyer.

The defense also stressed that none of Vinnik’s requests for his extradition from Greece to Russia were considered.

As compensation for moral damages, the lawyers seek €1 million from Sakellaropoulou, €800,000 from Randos, and from other Council of State members who participated in the decision, ranging from €100,000 to €800,000.

None of the defendants appeared at the hearings, writes «РИА Новости».

The court gave the lawyers until Monday to collect additional documents.

On 18 May the Paris Court of Appeal will also begin considering Vinnik’s appeal.

In late 2020, Vinnik was found guilty in France of money laundering, and charges of extortion and creating the Locky ransomware were dropped. He was sentenced to five years in prison and a €100,000 fine.

Follow ForkLog’s bitcoin news on our Telegram — cryptocurrency news, rates and analytics.