European Interest

Slovakia sends Yandiev to Russia despite threats

Slovakia has ignored a United Nation decision and sent Ingushetia citizen Aslan Yandiev to Russia where he is wanted for alleged terrorism crimes.

Slovakia has ignored a United Nation decision and sent Ingushetia citizen Aslan Yandiev to Russia where he is wanted for alleged terrorism crimes.

Specifically, Slovakia extradited Ingushetia citizen Aslan Yandiev to Russia. According to the official Russian news agency TASS, Yandiev was transported to Russia by plane on July 17.

As reported by The Slovak Spectator, the 40-year-old Yandiev was wanted for suspicions of participating in a series of fatal terrorist crimes in 2006 at various places in the city of Vladikavkaz. According to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), he was a member of the armed group of Chechen commander Shamil Basaev, the Sme daily wrote, citing Russian sources.

FSB claims Yandiev left Russia in 2010, with falsified documents, to avoid prosecution. He then tried to claim asylum in Switzerland, the Netherlands and other European Union member states. In 2011, he was detained in Slovakia.

The UN Commission for Human Rights preliminary ruled his extradition to be suspended – at least until the case is properly investigated, which the Amnesty International Slovensko human rights’ watchdog cites.

According to The Slovak Spectator, Amnesty International has warned that it is not just the Russian authorities accusing him of terrorism (with his guilty plea allegedly being forced by torture), he is also threatened by an increase in out-of-court executions and torture in Ingushetia. It also asked the ministries of justice, foreign affairs and interior to stop the extradition, arguing that by doing so, the country would violate its international commitments to human rights.

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