Today, May 17, 2022, Zoe Konstantopoulou, lawyer for Alexander Vinnik, filed a request asking the Council of State to revoke the decision to extradite Alexander to the US, who continues to be detained in France. The stormy case of Mr Bitcoin - as he is called - seems to have no end, with Konstantopoulou fighting for the freedom of the unfortunate Russian, who is being held under inhumane conditions in France while he has been acquitted of 19/20 offenses that burdened him while the one charge that now burdens him is a misdemeanor.
See also: Zoe Konstantopoulou: New American interventions in the Vinnik case
In today's trial, Zoe Konstantopoulou accuses the Minister of Justice of unconstitutional procedures and discussions "under the table" with the aim of immediately extraditing Alexander Vinnik to the US. In today's trial at the Supreme Court, we could say that she truly overwhelmed the judges with her arguments.
"The Greek justice system should function effectively," said Zoe Konstantopoulou, among others.
Let's take a detailed look at the history of the case and what happened today in the Council of State.
Alexander Vinnik was arrested in July 2017 by Greek authorities while on vacation with his family in Halkidiki. Why was he arrested? His lawyer Zoe Konstantopoulou says that the US Department of Justice and the Greek Ministry of Justice colluded to extradite Alexander, effectively violating her client's rights.
What was this decision? The Minister of Justice, Konstantinos Tsiaras, ordered the extradition of Vinnik to France, then to the USA and finally to Russia. The Council of Justice decided that based on the international conventions signed by Greece with the USA and the Russian Federation it follows that in the event of a confluence of extradition requests submitted by a third country (outside the EU) and a confluence of these requests with a European arrest warrant for a person prosecuted in the requesting states for different crimes, after the issuance of irrevocable opinions in favor of the extradition of the person in question by the competent judicial bodies, the Minister of Justice, if he finally decides to extradite the wanted person, determines, at his broad discretion, the order of priority among the states to which he will be extradited.
Why do we mention the above? Vinnik's extradition had been requested by three countries: the USA, Russia and France. So the Council of Justice decided that the Minister of Justice would be the one to determine the order of the countries simultaneously requesting Vinnik's extradition! Finally, Vinnik in January 2020 – then to America and finally to Russia.
He is the first in Greece (and possibly in the world) that the Greek Supreme Court (Areios Pagos) has consented to in all three countries!
From May 18 to 28, 2021, the trial of Alexander Vinnik took place at the Paris Court of Appeal. Alexander Vinnik has today been acquitted of the vast majority of charges (19 out of 20) and has been convicted of only one, a misdemeanor. He appealed this one charge and the minor sentence, continuing to maintain his complete innocence . The Paris District Prosecutor also appealed, requesting that Alexander be retried on all charges.
See also: Mr Bitcoin Alexander Vinnik: Interview with Zoe Konstantopoulou [Updated]
The Paris Prosecutor General stated the following during his speech: "it is clear that this man has nothing to do with all these accusations that have been made against him, there is not the slightest evidence against him"!
What happened at the one held today at the Council of State!
Zoe Konstantopoulou, as we mentioned above, filed a request with the Council of State to annul the decision to extradite Alexander to the USA. In her speech, she again referred to the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, saying characteristically that she “intervened in the proceedings for “Mr Bitcoin” by insisting on trying the case one by one in order to promote it”. Mrs. Sakellaropoulou was at that time President of the Council of State and the lawyer stated that she deleted the case from the schedule of the trial scheduled for 24/3/2020 and hastily scheduled it before the Plenary Session of the Council of State for 10 January 2020, shortening the deadlines and changing the rapporteur of the case, who had already been appointed”.
The lawyer then referred to the following:
- In response to the court's argument that Mr. Vinik's authorization to Mrs. Konstantopoulou was a private document and not a power of attorney, he replied that the authorization had been signed by two police officers and that it is possible for such a document to be considered a private document. Also, regarding the fact that the court is requesting a power of attorney, he replied that he was a prisoner, so he was not able to carry out the prescribed procedures. Finally, he added that the European Court accepts the signing procedure and does not request a power of attorney.
- Following the Council of State's argument that the defendant did not appear in court at the Thessaloniki Administrative Court of Appeal, the defense attorney responded that the state did not carry out the transfer process from Athens, so it was not possible for him to appear in court.
It is worth mentioning that, during Konstantopoulou's reference to unconstitutional procedures by powerful state and government figures, the President of the Council of State wanted to discourage her and distance her from these events, saying that they have no particular relation to the issue, something that does not deter the Russian's lawyer.
The threats on his life that Alexander Vinnik received
Zoe Konstantopoulou did not hesitate to mention the threats to his life that Vinnik has received all this time, which are adding to his already burdened psychology. In fact, Alexander's Russian lawyer was recently killed under unclear circumstances and in a highly suspicious climate and a period of time that was quite critical for the case. Official reports state that the death was caused by a fall down the stairs of a restaurant.
Kostantopoulou referred to the situation of Alexander Vinnik, saying that he has truly lost all hope and is essentially living a tragedy for one reason only – as it has already been decided that he is not a criminal by the Paris Court of Appeal – that he is a rare holder of such valuable know-how ( blockchain) on which cryptocurrencies are based. Cryptocurrencies that had been demonized by governments and central banks. What the lawyer is asking is for the Greek judiciary to judge the case by seriously considering the legal rights of her client.
Let us recall that Vinnik is also experiencing a family drama, as he lost his wife to cancer and brain damage and has not seen his two children since he was arrested.
