Extradition to Russia from an EU member state: judicial incompetence, political bias, or just another sign of rule of law decay?

On 8 August 2022, a Bulgarian Regional Court, acting as a first instance, allowed the extradition of Alexey Alchin, a Russian national who burned his passport at an anti-war protest, to Russia upon the request of the Russian Prosecutor’s Office. Whereas the decision by the Varna Regional Court is not final and subject to appeal, it merits unpacking because of its implications. The Chair of the Bulgaria Helsinki Committee, Krassimir Kanev, has already deemed that the court has shown ‘intolerable bias’ and an interest in ‘pleasing’ the Russian government. However, one may also ponder if the decision does not reveal a much deeper problem within Bulgaria’s justice system. On the one hand, one may suspect Russian meddling behind the scenes because of Bulgaria’s Prosecutor’s Office unhealthy relationship with Russia’s Prosecutor’s Office. On the other hand, the cherry-picking of applicable provisions, in which the court has engaged, serves as yet another red flag about the deplorable state of Bulgaria’s rule of law.

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Suggested citation - Vassileva, Radosveta: Extradition to Russia from an EUMember State: Judicial Incompetence, Political Bias, or Just Another Sign of Rule of LawDecay?, VerfBlog, 2022/8/18, https://verfassungsblog.de/extradition-to-russia-from-an-eu-member-s... DOI: 10.17176/20220818-181747-0