Hellenic republic's Council of State ruled for the extradition to France of one-time operator of now-shuttered crypto exchange BTC-due east and Russian national Alexander Vinnik.

English-language local news outlet Greek Reporter reported on the courtroom's decision on Jan. 23. Yesterday, Russian news agency TASS reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov protested:

"The decision to extradite him to French republic is inadmissible equally long as no explanations have been provided why he is non extradited to Russia. His family has been broken up, his right to life and health violated. Greece is obliged to hold prisoners in weather that do not allow torture and bullying."

Vinnik's alleged crimes

Every bit Cointelegraph reported in late-July 2022, Vinnik was arrested during a vacation in Hellenic republic by local police and accused of heading a group that laundered $4 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) over the course of half-dozen years.

Vinnik is believed to have a straight relationship with the infamous hack of cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox. The Bitcoin obtained through the heist was reportedly not only laundered by BTC-e only also were on Vinnik'southward wallet. The full amount is 300,000 BTC. The MtGox trustee also contacted the United States Department of Justice in search of data about Alexander Vinnik, the alleged erstwhile operator of BTC-east in early on October 2022.

Earlier this week, his lawyers for Alexander Vinnik filed a complaint alleging violation of their defendant's rights.

The litigation over where Vinnik should exist extradited to has involved many countries and soon became a major diplomatic ordeal. Russia has both filed several requests with Greek judicial authorities and asked for assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Homo Rights in an attempt to bring him nether its jurisdiction.

Vinnik was first indicted by the U.Due south. in July 2022. The Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece after ruled for his extradition to Russia in September 2022. In July 2022, however, a Greek courtroom ruled to extradite him to France. Now, this is where Vinnik appears to be headed.