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Prague not to seek mafia boss Saghoyan's extradition from Armenia

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  • Prague not to seek mafia boss Saghoyan's extradition from Armenia

    CTK National News Wire, Czech Republic
    October 31, 2014 Friday 1:26 PM (Central European Time)

    Prague not to seek mafia boss Saghoyan's extradition from Armenia

    Prague Oct 31 (CTK)


    The Justice Ministry will not ask Armenia for the extradition of the
    arrested Russian-language mafia boss Andranik Soghoyan who was
    sentenced to 22 years in prison in absentia for ordering a murder in
    the Czech Republic, ministry spokeswoman Katerina Hrochova told CTK
    today.

    The Czech Republic could transfer the penal proceedings to Armenia,
    where the thief in law or "vor v zakone" Soghoyan could be tried
    again. However, since an appellate review in the case was filed with
    the Czech Supreme Court, it is not probable, Hrochova added.

    "Since Soghoyan is an Armenian state citizen and Armenia does not
    extradite its citizens, his extradition to the Czech Republic is out
    of question. This is why the Justice Ministry has not asked the
    Armenian authorities for his detention to enable his extradition to
    the Czech Republic," Hrochova said.

    The Armenian police detained Soghoyan in Yerevan on Thursday on the
    basis of information that he was wanted by the Czech authorities.

    Soghoyan was to start serving the prison sentence in the Czech
    Republic on September 1, but he did not. This is why the Prague City
    Court issued a European warrant for his arrest, which, however, does
    not apply to Armenia.

    Court spokeswoman Marketa Puci said the court had started preparing an
    international arrest warrant in mid-October, too, but this procedure
    would last longer.

    The Czech Republic and Armenia also discussed the possibility of
    Soghoyan serving the prison sentence in his homeland. But Armenia said
    this was not possible without a bilateral agreement, Hrochova said.

    The only possibility is to transfer the whole penal proceedings to
    Armenia where the case would be investigated from the beginning. The
    Prague City Court would have to ask for it. However, the Justice
    Ministry does not expect the court to do so at the moment, Hrochova
    noted.

    According to the indictment, Soghoyan ordered and organised the murder
    of an Armenian businessman in 2007, but the hired assassin killed a
    wrong man and stabbed another one by mistake.

    The lower level court acquitted Soghoyan twice in the past, but the
    case was repeatedly returned to it by the appeals court. The final
    verdict for Soghoyan was meted out in October 2013, but at that time
    he was abroad as the courts released him from custody.

    Some media in Yerevan have reported that Soghoyan has been living in
    Armenia for several years, while others say he arrived in Yerevan a
    few days ago only.

    Soghoyan, dubbed Zap in the Armenian underworld, was allegedly
    detained in Armenia once before, but the police released him since
    they lacked the respective documents from the Czech Republic.

    hol/dr/rtj

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