A court in the Czech Republic dropped some of the charges against Russian Alexander Franchetti. He was involved in the occupation of Crimea in 2014.
Earlier, Ukraine demanded his extradition. However, the court refused due to the military situation, which could harm the Russian.
Part of the charges against Franchetti were dropped
Czech court dropped the charges against Franchetti for detention of at least 11 pro-Ukrainian people during the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014. Prosecutor Marek Bodlak told journalists about this.
This decision was justified by the lack of evidence proving the guilt of the militant. In addition, Franchetti decided to release from custody. However, the judgment has not entered into force. The prosecution will challenge it in the Supreme Court.
Russian lawyer Lenka Shramkova confirmed to pro-Kremlin media that all charges against her client were dropped. At the same time, Czech journalists report that the militant has not been cleared of charges of creating an organized criminal group with the aim of committing a terrorist attack. For this crime, he faces 15 years in prison.
The press secretary of the Russian embassy in the Czech Republic, Nikolai Briakin, said that Franchetti should wait for further developments in his case at large. However, he has not yet left the pre-trial detention center.
Franchetti illegally detained Ukrainian marines
The Russian arrived in Sevastopol before the occupation of the peninsula and joined the so-called “Crimean self-defense”. According to the Ukrainian secret services, in the ranks of this pro-Russian formation, Franchetti, in particular, was engaged in the suppression of resistance to the pro-Ukrainian population in the area.
He also formed the Russian intelligence group “Northern Wind”. Every day, the militant gave instructions to 11 members of the organization, and handed over the collected information to the command of the Russian naval forces. Namely, the Feodosia marine battalion,” said Mikhail Makaruk, a representative of the international intelligence community InformNapalm
When Russia finally established its “power” on the peninsula, Franchetti fled from there. It soon became known that he returned to the Czech Republic, where he had lived since 2000. Then the Russian turned into a blogger and a stubborn critic of the Putin regime.
In 2019, Franchetti became interested not only in the Ukrainian special services, but also in the Czech ones. Already on September 12, 2021, a Russian was detained at the Prague airport. The next day, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced that it was negotiating the extradition of the militant.
