Court to decide on extradition to Germany of Ukrainian suspected of blowing up Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline – Minister-Coordinator of Polish Special Services
The decision to extradite to Germany a Ukrainian citizen who allegedly led to the blowing up of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline more than two years ago will belong to the court, Minister-Coordinator of Polish Special Services Tomasz Siemoniak said.
"This is a court decision, as well as a question of the prosecution's assessment of the situation. I believe that there are absolutely no grounds for any hasty actions here. The case is extremely serious, and I believe that our prosecutor's office and our court should investigate it thoroughly, without any political pressure, without any haste," he assessed, Onet reports.
He said the Polish court, when deciding such a case, must have "absolute certainty."
"Fortunately, we are a state governed by the rule of law. The Germans have the right to appeal to us, they had the right to issue a European arrest warrant, but it is the Polish court that will make a decision after assessing the situation, and I believe in the wisdom of the judges, in their careful assessment of the situation and in the fact that they will not act under pressure from the media or political pressure," he said.
Head of the presidential office for international policy Marcin Przydacz, commenting on the case, stated that in this case Poland has obligations under the European arrest warrant, but, according to him, the Polish state is not completely without rights in this decision.
"Perhaps it is really necessary to examine whether the transfer of this gentleman to the German services, firstly, complies with all procedures, secondly, with the interests of the Polish state and the interests of the entire Euro-Atlantic community, and thirdly, one should also look at the political consequences of such a decision," he said.
He said that if he were the prosecutor's office, he would have very carefully investigated whether there were grounds for transferring this person to the German services.
"If it is indeed the case that this person showed far-reaching courage and far-reaching determination to make Europe safer, then, undoubtedly, the goals of his activities for his own benefit should also be taken into account," Przydach believes.
In his opinion, the transfer of the suspect could affect relations between the Polish and Ukrainian governments.
"I can imagine that Kyiv government will demand its citizen. And the question, of course, is how the Polish government will behave. Since this should not develop into purely state relations. On the other hand, perhaps Kyiv will take into account the fact that the state led by Donald Tusk does not always pursue a policy that meets regional interests and too often listens to the voices coming from Berlin," Przydach said.
The question of the possible extradition of the man to Germany will be decided by the court, which must first consider the documentation. It has 100 days to do this.
As reported, on October 30, a Ukrainian citizen, a diving instructor, was detained in Poland on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by a German court.
"Volodymyr Z. fell into the hands of the police in Pruszków. He is currently in the district prosecutor's office in Warsaw. The extradition procedure should begin soon," the court said, without specifying the name of the Ukrainian.
Earlier, on September 16, the Court of Appeal of Bologna (Italy) approved the decision to extradite to Germany former Ukrainian captain Serhiy Kuznetsov, who is accused of blowing up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines; his lawyer immediately announced an appeal. In court, he stated that on the day the incident with the blowing up of the gas pipelines occurred, he was in Ukraine.
