Estonian court approves extradition of former separatist fighter to Ukraine
The Tallinn District Court granted an appeal filed by the Government of Estonia against the decision of the lower court and now, Estonian citizen Vladimir Polyakov, suspected of terrorist activity in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, can be extradited to Kiev, BaltNews reported. On May 19th, the Tallinn District Court granted the appeal filed by the Government of Estonia and overturned the decision of Tallinn Administrative Court of 3rd of February 2016.
The Court issued a new decision, according to which the claim of the citizen of Estonia, who contested the Government’s decision on his extradition, should be dismissed. The Tallinn District Court found that the decision of Estonian Cabinet of Ministers of 21st of December 2015 on the extradition of Vladimir Polyakov to Ukraine is lawful: the facts provided in Polyakov’s claim offer no grounds for the annulment of this decision.
The decision on the extradition of Polyakov to Kiev was taken by the Government of the Republic of Estonia at the request of Ukrainian authorities. In February, the Administrative Court ordered to that the decision be reconsidered.
According to the Estonian Public Prosecutor’s Office, Vladimir Polyakov, aged 34, has been taking part in hostilities against Ukrainian servicemen on the territory of Luhansk region since June of 2014. Polyakov also escorted and guarded illegally detained people. The man was arrested in Estonia in February of 2015 when he attempted to return to Ukraine.