Court in Albania decides to extradite a Russian citizen

A court in Shkodra, Albania, has on Tuesday accepted Russia's request for the extradition of Russian national Igor Kokunov, who is suspected as “collaborator or supporter of a author of grave criminal acts in Russia”.

Kokunov, 59, was arrested on August 28th this year at the Muriqaan border crossing in northwest Albania.

At the time, Albania's police had said that Concuvio “is declared international in search of Interpol Moscow, as Russian authorities have assigned the security measure to the prison arrest”.

His defence lawyer, Isuf Shehu, said he would complain at the Court of Appeals about this decision.

We seek not to extradite, and this is related to humanitarian reasons. In Russia, the right to a fair judicial process is not guaranteed, and there are abuses in detentions and at” prisons, Shehu said.

Asked about the high presence of police forces and those operational with the tribunal when the session against Kokunov was under way, Shehu said that “is excessive”, and that Russian national “does not pose risk. ”

He also denied reports in Albanian media that “Kokunov is part of dangerous criminal groups operating even in the Balkans”.

The operation for his arrest in August of this year was coded “Moscow” and conducted on the basis of information exchanged between Interpol Tirana and Interpol Moscow. / REL