Kremlin Adviser Loses Final Swiss Bid to Fight U.S. Extradition
Kremlin Adviser Loses Final Swiss Bid to Fight U.S. Extradition
(Bloomberg) -- Switzerland’s top court rejected a final appeal from a Russian IT specialist with ties to the Kremlin to contest his extradition to the U.S., setting up the next stage of a battle between Moscow and Washington over the businessman’s fate.
Swiss courts had already dismissed multiple appeals to free Vladislav Klyushin, who worked with the Kremlin and Russian government ministries, after he was detained in March on a petition from U.S. federal prosecutors investigating alleged insider trading. The Swiss Federal Court on Friday rejected his final appeal, saying there was no reason to challenge the legitimacy of the U.S. courts.
A lower court “rightly stated that the complainant’s submissions are not likely to arouse objective doubts about the independence of the U.S. courts,” the Swiss supreme court said in its ruling. “In the absence of any indications to the contrary, based on the principle of trust under international law, it can be assumed that the USA will adhere to its obligations under international law.”
Oliver Ciric, Klyushin’s lawyer, said Swiss courts wrongly failed to consider his arguments that his client was being prosecuted for political reasons. Ciric has previously called the insider-trading charges, which his client denies, a political “pretext” for alleged efforts by U.S. intelligence to get access to confidential Russian information his client has.
Ciric said he’s filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights requesting interim measures to suspend the extradition procedure.
Prosecutors in Massachusetts accuse Klyushin of insider trading involving tens of millions of dollars with several accomplices, said a spokeswoman for the Swiss Federal Department of Justice.
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