MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th July, 2023) The Federal Supreme Court of Brazil has found the request of the United States for extradition of Russian national Sergey Cherkasov, who is in prison in Brazil for espionage and fraud, unfounded and also suspended consideration of a similar request from Russia, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Security said Thursday.
"Regarding the US request, the DRCI (Department of Assets Recovery and International Legal Cooperation) of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security considered it unfounded, as the defendant already has an extradition request approved by the Federal Supreme Court," the ministry said on the website.
The ministry specified it had received two requests for Cherkasov's extradition � one from Russia and another one from the US. The execution of the Russian request has been suspended "under Article 95 of Law No. 13445/2017."
Brazil's law No. 13445 stipulates that if the person to be extradited is prosecuted or convicted in Brazil for a crime punishable by imprisonment, extradition shall take place only after the completion of the trial or when the sentence is served, except in cases of early release.
In 2022, Cherkasov was sentenced in Brazil to 15 years in prison on charges of spying for a foreign state and fraud. According to media reports, the US asked Brazil to extradite him. In March 2023, the US Department of Justice charged Cherkasov in absentia. Washington says the Russian, under the alias of Brazilian Victor Muller Ferreira, acted in the United States as an agent of a foreign power and also engaged in fraud using visas, banking and electronic devices.
