Russia

The Supreme Court of Cyprus dismissed an appeal against the rejection of a habeas corpus application challenging the requested person’s extradition to Russia for prosecution for large-scale corporate tax evasion. The Court accepted that the assurances provided by the Russian authorities could not be regarded as satisfactory, in particular in light of Russia’s withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights system, but held that this did not automatically preclude extradition. It reiterated that the requested person bears the burden of establishing, through concrete and specific evidence, substantial grounds for believing that he personally faces a real risk of ill-treatment, an unfair trial or other human-rights violations, and found that such an individualized risk had not been demonstrated. The Court also rejected the allegation that the prosecution was pursued for ulterior motives, holding that suspicion alone was insufficient and that bad faith had to be established by positive and convincing evidence.

In matters of extradition to a foreign State, a bar arises where there is a risk to the individual’s fundamental rights, particularly where the requesting State—no longer a member of the Council of Europe and involved in an armed conflict—cannot provide assurances that there is no current danger to the life or physical integrity of the person sought, in light of the widespread, severe and exceptional nature of the hostilities affecting its entire territory, where such a situation is objectively established, including as a matter of common knowledge. In the present case, moreover, since Poland—an EU Member State—has granted the requested person subsidiary protection, extradition to a third State could not, in any event, proceed without prior consultation with Poland. Poland has, in fact, already refused extradition to the Russian Federation on the basis of the same arrest warrant and for the same offences underlying the present proceedings; it is therefore reasonable to assume that such consultation would lead to a negative outcome.

In matters of extradition to a foreign State, when assessing the existence of grounds precluding the issuance of a decision in favor of surrender - which, pursuant to Article 714(3) of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure, also bar the adoption of coercive measures aimed at securing its execution - the Court of Appeal is required to determine whether, on the basis of objective and reliable elements, there is a risk that the person sought will be subjected, in the requesting State, to inhuman or degrading treatment (also considering the impact of Russia - Ukraine war).

risk of inhuman or degrading treatment: for the purposes of assessing the ground for refusal provided for by article 698(1) of the italian code of criminal procedure, the court of appeal must verify whether the penalty provided for under the law of the requesting state—regardless of its formal designation—effectively amounts to treatment that violates the fundamental rights of the individual.

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.