A 41-year-old Australian arrested in Mykonos has requested from the Council of State not to be extradited to the USA.
He was arrested in July 2021 following a red notice by Interpol as a member of an international drug ring involved in the importing and trafficking cocaine, as well as money laundering illegal activities.
According to Proto Thema, he was arrested by police officers of the Security Narcotics Prosecution Sub-Directorate and the American DEA at the airport and is to be extradited to the USA. The Australian remains a prisoner in Korydallos prison.
The defendant has stated that he is an Australian citizen and works in construction, online trading and the sale of cryptocurrencies.
The arrested person, according to the US authorities, allegedly participated from May 2019 to May 2021 in a conspiracy to launder the proceeds of drug trafficking in Florida and to distribute large quantities of cocaine from Colombia, through California, to Australia.
The Greek courts and the Greek Minister of Justice accepted the request of the American Authorities for his extradition.
However, the 39-year-old appealed to the European Court of Human Rights - ECHR (temporary measures procedure) to suspend his extradition until the Greek Government requests clarifications from the USA regarding arguments-objections that he had put forward.
The clarifications concern the penalties that will be imposed on him in the US in case he is extradited, as a possible sentence is that of life imprisonment, but also concern the conditions of his detention in the US as he is dealing with health issues, as he claims.
Initially, the ECtHR postponed its extradition, and clarifications were requested from the Greek Government, which were answered. Then, the Minister of Justice (11.3.2023) gave an opinion in favour of his extradition.
After this, he appealed to the Council of State and requested that the controversial ministerial decision that gave the green light for his extradition be annulled.
He claims, among other things, that the criminal proceedings against him in the US were the result of exceeding the permitted police covert activity to uncover criminal acts and that he was the victim of police entrapment, a claim that was never examined by the judicial authorities, which violates his right to a fair trial.
Furthermore, he maintains that several European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) articles are violated. At the same time, the decision allowing his extradition is unjustified and needs to have the required specific and detailed reasoning.
Finally, he notes that if he is immediately extradited to the US, his health will suffer irreparable damage due to his serious problems. This is because while he was a prisoner in Korydallos prisons, he had a pacemaker implanted, and there were complications while dealing with other health problems simultaneously.
