Italy’s highest court has authorized the extradition of the alleged mastermind of the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea. The Cassation Court in Rome ruled that the Ukrainian citizen could be handed over to German authorities. This was reported by the defendant’s lawyer.
49-year-old Serhij K. will likely be handed over to German police in the next few days and then flown to Germany. He will probably go to trial in Hamburg.
The Cassation Court will only provide written reasons for its decision later. The Ukrainian’s lawyer of Italian origin, Nicola Canestrini, said of the extradition: “Despite the great disappointment, I am confident that he will be released in Germany.”
K. is said to be the mastermind of the attack
K. was accused of being one of the masterminds of the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline three years ago. Serhij K. was arrested during a family vacation in Rimini, Italy, in August. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office has initiated criminal proceedings against him for jointly causing explosive explosions in pipelines and unconstitutional sabotage.
K. denies these allegations to this day. Meanwhile, he went on hunger strike because he was considered to have received bad treatment. In September, a court in Bologna had ordered his extradition, but the Supreme Court ruled against it Italy stopped the process after K.’s lawyer objected.
In the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline network, the pipes were so badly damaged that gas could no longer flow through them. The explosion occurred near the island of Bornholm in Denmark and caused an uproar around the world.
