Brazil has denied the U.S. authorities’s extradition request for an accused Russian spy in Brazilian custody, weakening hopes that he could possibly be utilized in a possible prisoner swap between the United States and Russia for both or each of two Americans being held in Russia on espionage costs that Washington considers bogus.
Brazil mentioned it denied the U.S. request as a result of it was nonetheless investigating the case and had already begun processing a Russian request for the extradition of the accused spy, Sergey Cherkasov, although it additionally appeared unlikely that Brazil would in the end ship him to Russia.
“At the moment, the citizen in question will remain in detention in Brazil,” Brazil’s justice minister, Flávio Dino, mentioned on Twitter.
The United States has been searching for methods to free the 2 Americans being held in Russia. One is Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal who has been detained in Russia for 4 months. The different is Paul Whelan, who was detained in 2018 and is now serving a 16-year jail sentence. The United States considers each “wrongfully detained,” which means the equal of political prisoners.
Brazil has held Mr. Cherkasov, 37, for greater than a yr on costs of utilizing falsified paperwork. In March, the U.S. Justice Department formally accused him of spying within the United States, lodging costs that embody appearing as a international agent and visa fraud. The U.S. authorities have sought his extradition since.
Before these accusations, Russia had sought Mr. Cherkasov’s extradition from Brazil, saying that he was truly a prison drug trafficker. Brazilian authorities preliminarily accredited Russia’s request, pending Brazil’s broader investigation into accusations of espionage.
Mr. Dino, Brazil’s justice minister, mentioned on Thursday that the choice to disclaim the U.S. request was primarily based on worldwide treaties and Brazilian legislation.
Mr. Cherkasov’s extradition to any nation would require the approval of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has sought to maintain Brazil impartial within the conflict in Ukraine.
Mr. Cherkasov lived in Brazil from 2012 to 2018, posing as a Brazilian named Victor Muller Ferreira, in line with each the U.S. and Brazilian authorities. In 2018, he moved to the United States and attended Johns Hopkins University.
He then secured an internship on the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which is investigating potential Russian conflict crimes in Ukraine. But when he arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in April final yr to start the job, immigration authorities tipped off by Dutch intelligence despatched him again to Brazil, the place he was arrested and sentenced to fifteen years in jail on fraud costs.
Separately this week, a Brazilian court docket decreased Mr. Cherkasov’s jail sentence for fraud to 5 years, saying it was extra acceptable primarily based on his present conviction. He would face harsher penalties if convicted of espionage.
The U.S. Embassy in Brazil declined to touch upon whether or not U.S. officers noticed Mr. Cherkasov as a possible candidate to swap for both or each of the 2 Americans. If extradited to the United States, he would develop into maybe the one accused Russian spy in U.S. custody. Analysts have seen him as a possible chip in such negotiations.
Source: www.nytimes.com