Ukrainian prosecutor will demand extradition of Crimean Vice Prime Minister
The Ukrainian prosecutor intends to request the extradition of Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Vitaliy Nahlupin detained in Moscow, stated the Prosecutor of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Gyunduz Mamedov. His statement was quoted on Facebook by the representative of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine, Andriy Lysenko.
Ukraine wants to bring Nahlupin to justice “for high treason” (Part 1 of Article 111 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code). According to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, the detained Vice Prime Minister “supported and assisted the occupation of the Crimea”.
“Under his direct participation, the so-called Constitution of the Republic of Crimea and a number of other acts were illegally adopted, as a result of which an illegitimate state, the Republic of Crimea, was established,” Mamedov said. In addition, Nahlupin is accused of campaigning the Crimean people to participate in the March referendum in 2014 and to vote for the annexation of the peninsula to Russia.
Nahlupin was detained in Moscow on charges of receiving a bribe (Article 290 of the Crimean Code). RBC news agency reported, citing its sources that the officla was detained due to the situation with road tenders. Nahlupin supervised the federal program for the construction of roads in the Crimea. The interlocutors of RBC noted that the security forces conducted searches in the Committee for Competition Policy, the service of the Crimean roads and offices of the Crimean Railway.
Regarding the detention of Nahlupin, Head of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov said that “there are no untouchable people”. Spokesman to the Russian president Dmitry Peskov added that there are questions about the activities of the Crimean Vice Prime Minister.