KIEV, August 5 (RAPSI) – A Ukrainian court has upheld a ruling ordering the extradition to Russia of a man suspected of being part of an extremist group responsible for a string of murders, Kommersant-Ukraine daily reported Monday.
The Shevchenkovsky District Court in Kiev rejected an appeal against deportation by Mikhail Volkov, a member of the Battle Organization of Russian Nationalists (BORN).
His lawyer intends to appeal that ruling, the newspaper said.
Volkov is wanted in Russia for murder, arms trafficking, and membership of an extremist group. Russia put him on a wanted list this April, and he was detained in Kiev on May 10 by the Ukrainian security services.
The initial extradition ruling was made on July 18. Volkov appealed that ruling.
BORN is a right-wing nationalist group whose members are suspected of having been involved in several high-profile killings, including the murder of Moscow judge Eduard Chuvashov and lawyer Stanislav Markelov.
Judge Chuvashov was shot dead in the stairwell of his Moscow apartment in 2010. He had presided over a number of court cases related to far-right groups and had handed down several long sentences for hate crimes committed by their members.
Markelov was shot dead in downtown Moscow on January 19, 2009, together with Novaya Gazeta reporter Anastasia Baburova. According to the investigation into his death, he was targeted for his active participation in an anti-fascist movement.
Volkov was suspected by investigators of involvement in that killing, as well as the death of a former Thai boxing champion, Muslim Abdullaev.
