Greek director receives compensation for unjustified deprivation of freedom in Vestre Prison

Greek Director Awarded Compensation After Unjustified Detention in West Prison

The Danish authorities have been found to have failed in the case regarding the extradition to Russia.

A Greek businessman was awarded compensation because he was unjustly imprisoned for 95 days in West Prison in Copenhagen.

In the ruling, the Chief Prosecutor, the Public Prosecutor, states that the Danish authorities have erred. This is stated by the man's lawyer, Asser Gregersen.

The compensation for the unnecessary imprisonment amounts to 96,700 DKK and is calculated based on fixed rates.

> I am outraged, almost furious, that it took the Danish prosecution authority and the Danish courts so long to realize and acknowledge that Russia is a dictatorship where one does not get a fair trial and therefore should not be extradited.

> Asser Gregersen, lawyer

This was in connection with a mass, that the businessman, who is the director of a transport company, was taken to Denmark in the fall of 2023.

But when he in the evening of October 13 wanted to leave the airport in Kastrup, officials discovered that he was wanted by Russia.

Then he was arrested and taken to West Prison.

- I am a European citizen. I am a hardworking man with four children. The biggest mistake I have made is to do business in Russia, the man said in one of the subsequent court hearings.

Here, judges again and again extended the detention. The reason was that the prosecution authority required time to examine the Russian request.

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Advocate Angry About Proceedings

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15 January finally came to an end.

There could be no extradition, the prosecution authority managed to reach, and the day after the Greek man was released on bail.

The reason was, among other things, that Russia in September 2022 had left the European Convention on Human Rights. In addition, there was a risk that the Greek man would not get a fair trial in Russia.

However, these facts were known information, already before the imprisonment was put into effect, the Public Prosecutor states in his ruling on compensation.

The compensation is given because "the Danish authorities at the time of the detention were or should have been aware of the information that later formed the basis for the fact that there should be no extradition", writes the Public Prosecutor.

In fact, there was already doubt at the constitutional hearing on October 14.

A judge on Frederiksberg Court wondered aloud - but still imprisoned nevertheless.

- I can simply not understand, if Denmark can extradite people to Russia, said the judge - who quickly added that it was not his job to take a position on that.

Lawyer Asser Gregersen notes in an email that it is tedious that it has taken the authorities more than a year to acknowledge the duty to pay compensation.

But especially he is critical of the proceedings in the case:

- I am outraged, almost furious, that it took the Danish prosecution authority and the Danish courts so long to realize and acknowledge that Russia is a dictatorship, where one does not get a fair trial and therefore should not be extradited to, and that my client should not have been detained while they were investigating the Russian conditions.

In addition, the lawyer is considering claiming compensation for lost income.

The criminal case, which Russia wanted the 47-year-old man extradited for, concerns alleged fraud. He had already been acquitted by a district court in the city of Krasnodar.

/ritzau/

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