PGO waiting for information from SAPO on extradition of Bakhmatiuk initiated by NABU, businessman considers NABU's demands absurd
The Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has announced on its website about the consideration of the petition of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) dated June 15, 2020 filed with the competent authority of a foreign state to extradite Oleh Bakhmatiuk, a suspect in the embezzlement of funds from the NBU stabilization loan.
"On August 28, the PGO requested the conclusion of Ukraine's Special Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) regarding the validity of the procedural decisions taken in this criminal proceeding. On September 21, this conclusion was received by the relevant department, but this document did not reflect information about the legality of the decision to declare the suspect on the international wanted list. Therefore, the PGO has now requested information from the SAPO on the legality of this procedural decision and is awaiting a response," the PGO said.
The PGO said that the pretrial investigation body had already tried to initiate the search for Bakhmatiuk using Interpol channels, but Interpol had not yet taken a positive decision for the investigation due to the inconsistency of the materials prepared by NABU with the organization's rules.
"Therefore, NABU went by requesting the extradition of a person to Ukraine for criminal prosecution on the basis of the 1957 European Convention on the Extradition, which the PGO is studying as carefully as Interpol," the PGO said.
The PGO said that its goal is to bring to justice those who have committed criminal offenses, but without neglecting the norms of national legislation, which the ECHR insists on in its numerous decisions against Ukraine.