The new method, which authorities explained to Sputnik, involves transferring extradited individual from a third country to Russia via Turkiye. According to the prosecutor's office, a Russian citizen accused of large-scale fraud and later absconded to Romania was arrested there by the Interpol and sent to Moscow through Turkiye after Russian General Prosecutor's Office sent an extradition request.
"Thanks to the close collaboration with the competent authorities of Romania, we managed to obtain an extradition permit. The perpetrator was transported to Moscow in January 2023 by the Russian Federal Penal Service and the Interpol's Russian National Central Bureau via the territory of Turkiye. The third-countries transportation method has been worked out together with the Turkish competent authorities and is now a well-established practice," the General Prosecutor's Office said.
The work on extradition of criminals, including the elaboration of new methods of their delivery to Russia, is going on with due consideration of the current political realities, the General Prosecutor's Office added.
"Meanwhile, the General Prosecutor's Office has been at all times honoring its international commitments on extradition of criminals and providing legal assistance in criminal cases to our international partners. We urge them to resume de-politicized collaboration in crime prevention in accordance with mutually signed international treaties," the General Prosecutor's Office added.
Turkiye has become the key link in Russia's extradition procedures and transit of criminals extradited to Russia by third countries, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov said during his working visit to Istanbul in November 2022.