Ukrainian law enforcement officers arrested American citizen Craig Lang, who in the United States is suspected of double murder and other crimes.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine reported this on May 17.
Detention of Craig Lang
It is noted that by decision of the OGPU on extradition at the request of the competent US authorities, a US citizen was detained in Kyiv, who was wanted by American law enforcement agencies.
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The prosecutor's office's message does not name the suspect, but judging by the photo released by the press service, as well as information about the person, we are talking about the American Craig Lang.
Leng is wanted in the United States on suspicion of committing a number of crimes in three states. In particular, in the murder of two people in Florida.
Craig Lang Case
According to the OGPU, the Shevchenkovsky District Court of Kiev chose a preventive measure for the suspect in the form of extradition arrest until July 14, 2024. Prosecutors are preparing to begin the process of handing over the individual to United States authorities.
Before this, in March 2021, the Kiev Court of Appeal upheld the decision to extradite this person to the United States.
The defense tried to appeal this decision to the ECHR. On 19 April 2021, the ECtHR informed the Government of Ukraine that, according to Rule 39, the applicant cannot be extradited while the case is pending before the Court.
November 9, 2023 The European Court of Human Rights ruled that it did not find violations of the European Convention on Human Rights in the decision to extradite a suspect from Ukraine to the United States. On April 8, 2024, the ECHR decision acquired final status.
— After the ECHR decision was made public, the man was hiding from Ukrainian law enforcement agencies. On May 16, 2024, employees of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine detained a suspect in the Shevchenkovsky district of the capital, — reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General.
The Prosecutor General's Office adds that Craig Lang served in military service in Ukraine twice in the past: for 1.5 months in 2016 and for less than 1 month — in 2022.
From March 16 to April 29, 2016, he served on a probationary period as a foreign citizen, but due to his moral and business qualities he did not pass the probationary period, and therefore was dismissed from military service.
According to information provided by the defense, the suspect also served under a contract from July 27, 2022 to August 21, 2022. Resigned of his own free will.
Who is Craig Lang
Leng in 2015, when he first came to Ukraine, was part of the Right Sector and the Georgian Legion.
Before beginning his service in Ukraine, Craig served in the US Army for at least 5 years. During his service, he, in particular, fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to military personnel who crossed paths with Craig, the American ended up in Ukraine after leaving the army, when he violated discipline.
The American arrived in 2015, arrived in Dnepr and joined the ranks of the Right Sector, where he was part of a separate tactical group.
Already in March 2016, Leng joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces as part of the so-called Georgian Legion.
In the summer of 2017, Leng traveled to Kenya, where he attempted to cross the border into South Sudan, according to US investigators. Thus, Craig wanted to join the Somali branch of al-Qaeda al-Shabab.
However, due to crossing the border without documents, the Kenyan authorities detained Leng and deported him to the USA.
Already at home, according to the American investigation, while in the state of Florida, Craig committed murder together with Alex Zwiefelhofer, who also participated in hostilities in the Donbass in the past. Zwiefelhofer denied that he and Craig were involved in the murder.
