The US Department of Justice has withdrawn the request for extradition from Germany of Russian musician Denis Kaznacheev, accused of money laundering, writes TASS with reference to Ivan Melnikov, vice-president of the Russian branch of the International Committee for the Defense of Human Rights.
“ In fact, it was possible to prove that Kaznacheev was not involved in the crime complained of by the American authorities. All the charges against him seemed absurd, & ndash; said the agency contact. & ndash; Whereas Denis & ndash; a simple musician who had no skills in economics, computer science, who periodically borrowed money from friends for a living, it was rather strange to accuse him of involvement in embezzlement of several million dollars. ”
Melnikov noted that such a result was obtained “ attention to this problem of Russian and foreign media, participation of caring citizens, competent work of lawyers, human rights defenders and support of the Russian Foreign Ministry. & # 39; & # 39;
Earlier, the German Court of Appeal decided to extradite Kaznacheev to the United States. In the US it was claimed he used the darknet's shadow network and from 2010 to 2020, along with his accomplices, he laundered over $ 1 million. He was arrested in Berlin on May 29, 2020, and then released on bail. Kaznacheev denies his guilt.
Previously, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, protested against the US plan to extradite the Russian musician.
At the end of December, it was reported that the founder of the WikiLeaks portal, Julian Assange, had filed a motion to appeal the extradition order to the United States. The appeal is currently being considered by the High Court in London.