Prosecutor General Approaches European Institutions over Difficulties in Extradition of Fugitive Banker from Belgrade

Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev has sent a letter to the office of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and to the European Committee on Crime Problems, in which he once again alerts the institutions of the difficulties in the implementation of two requests for extradition sent to the Serbian authorities concerning Bulgarian banker Tsvetan Vassilev (pictured) who has fled to Belgrade, the Prosecuting Magistracy said in a press release Wednesday.

In Sofia Tsvetan Vassilev is tried in his absence for syphoning the Corporate Commercial Bank where he was the majority holder. The bank went down in 2014 after a run on deposits.

In the letter Geshev argues that the absence of a final court decision of the approached competent authorities in Serbia in connection with the criminal proceeding against Vassilev conducted in Sofia "casts doubt on the effective implementation of the European Convention on Extradition in respect of the obligation of the approached country to pronounce within a reasonable time". The letter reminds that nearly five and a half years have passed since the first request for Vassilev's extradition was duly sent to the Serbian authorities, and four years and eight months since the second request.

A copy of the letter was also sent to the President of the European Parliament and the President of the European Commission with a view of the future assessment regarding Serbia's readiness as a EU applicant country and the principle of the rule of law in court proceedings.

Geshev sent a letter to the Supreme Court in Belgrade in which he voices puzzlement in the delay of the extradition decision. He notes that the charges against Vassilev in the Corporate Commercial Bank case "are unprecedented in the history of the administration of justice in Bulgaria and carry huge significance for the country's economy and financial stability".

Source: BTA