Court not to extradite Russian citizen accused of fraud

Brno, Oct 10 (CTK) - Russian citizen Andrei Sakhkov will not be sent to his homeland where he is charged with an extensive fraud as the Czech Constitutional Court has accepted his complaint and annulled the verdicts of lower-level courts that considered his extradition admissible.

Sakhkov expressed fears that Russian authorities would not respect international agreements and his fundamental rights.

The Czech Constitutional Court has not explicitly commented on the situation in Russia.

Sakhkov is in Czech custody. The Municipal Court is now to reassess the admissibility of his detention.

According to the Constitutional Court, the Czech judiciary must assess mainly humanitarian and family aspects of the case, pointing out that Sakhkov has a permanent residence and his family in the Czech Republic and he meets conditions for granting Czech citizenship.

Sakhkov also asked the Constitutional Court for an immediate release from custody.

However, this decision is not in the court's power, judge-rapporteur Miloslav Vyborny said.

Sakhkov is suspected of extensive frauds in Russia.

Russian investigators say he was a member of a group that attempted to gain real estate owned by Russian state companies via false claims.

In his constitutional complaint, Sakhkov claimed that human rights were systematically violated in Russia, which Czech courts did not take into consideration.

"If I were extradited to Russia, I would face torture and cruelty," Sakhkov told constitutional judges Wednesday.

The Czech Constitutional Court recently dealt with the situation in Georgia under similar circumstances. It did not agree with the extradition of two Georgians for fear of the violation of their fundamental rights in Georgia.