Russian Alexander Vinnik, whom a French court found guilty of money laundering, spoke about his detention conditions in an interview RT.
According to Vinnik, he has been “morally destroyed” and in prison he is treated as a terrorist:
“I am in a solitary cell, in complete isolation. I am deprived of social contact and cannot talk to anyone. I am constantly searched when I leave or enter the cell — it is very humiliating.”
Vinnik himself feels like a victim of the political tensions between the United States and Russia.
“I am not guilty and I still don’t understand why I was not acquitted given the lack of evidence in court,” he said.
Earlier in 2017, Vinnik was detained in Greece at the request of U.S. authorities.
In 2019, Greek authorities decided to extradite Alexander Vinnik to France. He was extradited to France in January 2020. In December, the Russian was found guilty of money laundering through the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, sentenced to five years in prison and a €100 000 fine.
In late June 2021, the Appellate Court upheld the sentence of the first instance.
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