Supreme Court overturns decision to extradite Ukrainian allegedly involved with Nord Stream explosion

  ROME – On Wednesday, the Italian Supreme Court announced its decision to overturn the ruling by the Bologna Court of Appeal to extradite Ukrainian Serhii Kuznietsov who previously was arrested in Rimini on charges of being involved in the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions in 2022.

  Kuznietsov, 49, was arrested on Aug. 21 in Rimini while on holiday with his family, following the execution of a European arrest warrant, which would see him extradited to Germany. The former Ukrainian army captain was charged with allegedly being one of those responsible for the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in Sept. 2022. The pipelines run under the Baltic Sea, carrying natural gas from Russia to Germany.

  German authorities previously said that “The defendant is strongly suspected of collectively causing an explosion with explosives, unconstitutional sabotage and destruction of buildings.”

  However, on Wednesday, the Italian Supreme Court ruled to overturn the Bolognese court’s decision to extradite the Ukrainian to Germany. Kuznietsov’s lawyer, Nicola Canestrini, appealed the sentencing concerning the legal classification of the facts in the European arrest warrant.

  This means that the Ukrainian will not yet be extradited from Italy and instead will have a retrial in front of a different court.

  Canestrini, speaking after the ruling, said that the error in legal classification “resulted in a violation of my client's right to participate effectively in his own trial, in breach of the principles of fair trial enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and European Union law.”

  He added that the Supreme Court’s decision “reaffirms that […] fundamental rights and procedural guarantees can never be sacrificed to reasons of the state. Neither efficiency nor political pressure can justify the curtailment of the right to a fair trial.”

 khg