Italian media reported that the defense attorney of a Ukrainian citizen arrested near Rimini in August, Nicola Canestrini, presented during the appeals court session on Thursday the reasons for opposing the transfer of his client to the German justice system.
Among them, he mentioned “harsh conditions of detention in Germany.” The lawyer emphasized that this obliges the Italian justice system to request additional information, also due to the fact that Serhij K. does not have access to the files of his case in Germany despite repeated requests for it.
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Why did the Italian court withhold its decision?
What reasons did Serhiy K.'s defense attorney present?
What are Serhiy K. accused of?
What actions were supposed to take place during the attack on Nord Stream?
In addition, Canestrini drew attention to “the political and military nature of the alleged acts, which are part of the context of operations related to an international armed conflict,” his office emphasized in a note.
— The political classification of behavior attributed to Ukrainian citizens who opposed the illegal invasion under international law places such acts outside the scope of application of the European arrest warrant, argued the defender of the arrested person.
Attack on Nord Stream
49-year-old Serhiy K. was arrested in August this year in a town near Rimini, where he was on vacation with his family. He claims that he had nothing to do with the attack and that he was in Ukraine at the time it occurred.
The media previously reported that Serhiy K. was the organizer of the attack on Nord Stream, and not – as was believed – just one of the coordinators.
According to the German prosecutor's office, the Ukrainian and his companions used a yacht that sailed from the port of Rostock for their operation. They rented it in Germany on the basis of false identity documents and with the help of intermediaries.
Investigators claim that divers attached at least four explosives to the threads of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Later, they were to be picked up by the driver and taken to Ukraine.
