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A Bulgarian court on Wednesday rejected Lebanon’s request to extradite the owner of a ship linked to a cargo of ammonium nitrate at the center of a massive 2020 port explosion. beirut,
Igor Grechushkin, 48, who holds Russian and Cypriot citizenship, was arrested Sofia one in september Interpol Red notice.
lebanon Bulgaria has asked to extradite him in connection with the August 4, 2020 explosion, which killed at least 218 people and injured more than 6,000, and devastated large parts of Beirut, causing billions of dollars in damage.
His lawyer Ekaterina Dimitrova told The Associated Press, “The court rejected Lebanon’s request to extradite Igor Grechushkin and ruled that the Lebanese authorities had not provided sufficient assurances that he would be protected from the death penalty or that no such sentence would be imposed.”
The supervising prosecutor, Angel Kanev, said the main issue is whether sufficient guarantees have been provided that the death penalty will not be carried out, and whether those guarantees come from a “competent authority”.
“When such assurances are issued by the Lebanese Justice Minister, they are complemented by additional confirmations Supreme Court And the Prosecutor General, I believe the conditions for extradition have been met,” he said.
He said the Sofia City Court ruled that Grechushkin would remain in custody. The prosecution will appeal the refusal to extradite him to the appeals court, Kanev told reporters.