Italy’s highest court has upheld a lower court verdict approving the extradition of the suspected ringleader of the Nord Stream gas pipeline sabotage to Germany. The Ukrainian national’s lawyer announced the news.
Italy’s highest court has upheld a lower court verdict approving the extradition of the suspected ringleader of the Nord Stream gas pipeline sabotage to Germany. The Ukrainian national’s lawyer announced the news.
The Nord Stream pipelines were sabotaged in September 2022, several months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of UkraineImage:
Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation upheld a lower court verdict that a Ukrainian national wanted in Germany on suspicion of sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines can be extradited.
The suspect’s lawyer announced the decision on Wednesday evening.
The pipelines were rendered inoperable in September 2022, several months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Who is the suspect, what comes next?
The 49-year-old, identified as Serhiy K., has been in pre-trial detention since the summer and his lawyer said on October 31 that he had started a hunger strike in protest.
He’s wanted in Germany on suspicion of helping to organize and plan the sabotage, on charges of causing an explosion and of sabotage targeting key infrastructure. The defendant denies the charges.
The man is likely to be handed over to German police in Italy and then flown to Germany.
The case is likely to be heard in Hamburg, at least at first, though if it were to proceed to convictions and then appeals there’s a good chance it could ultimately end up in Karlsruhe, the home of Germany’s highest courts.
