Belarus

The Belarusian authorities requested the extradition of a stateless person for prosecution for an alleged aggravated theft committed in Minsk. The appellant argued that the lower court had failed to consider his application for Russian citizenship, his family circumstances and his willingness to be prosecuted in Russia. The Supreme Court held that he had not acquired Russian citizenship, had not applied before the extradition review began, and had neither refugee status nor temporary asylum. It further found that double criminality was satisfied and that Belarus had provided adequate guarantees concerning speciality, defence rights, protection from ill-treatment and the absence of discriminatory or political persecution.

The prohibition on an Italian court issuing a decision favourable to extradition, where there is a risk that the requested person may suffer a violation of fundamental rights, arises not only from the legal framework of the requesting State, but also from the “factual conduct” of its authorities. This occurs where such authorities merely undertake to adopt the necessary initiatives to ensure detention conditions compatible with minimum standards of human dignity, without, however, concretely implementing adequate measures, despite their official awareness of the degraded state of the country’s prison facilities.