A Ukrainian opera director arrested in Italy at Russia's request has pledged to continue his fight against the oppression of Vladimir Putin's government as calls for his release grew from around the world.
On 17 December, Yevhen Eugene Lavrenchuk, 39, was arrested in Naples on an international arrest warrant issued by Russia during a stopover in the city.
Russia is trying to get extradition for financial crimes allegedly committed when he was director of the Polish Theatre in Moscow. In 2014, Lavrenchuk left Russia for Ukraine in protest against Russia annexation of Crimea.
Lavrenchuk told the court of appeal in Naples that he was being persecuted by Russia for publicly voicing his dissent. He claimed the persecution resulted in him being beaten up outside the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre, where he was a director in December 2020. He has refused extradition, saying he feared being exposed to discrimination Lavrenchuk is being held in the Poggioreale prison in Naples, where he was visited this week by Francesco Emilio Borrelli, a regional councillor for the Europa Verde party.
I spoke to him for about 15 minutes during a prison check, which we do periodically, Borrelli said.
He was calm and in good form, came across as a person aware of living an injustice and that he will be proven right in the end. He stated that he is determined to return to his country to fight the oppression of Putin's regime. Lavrenchuk had never been to Italy before landing at Capodichino Airport on December 15th on a stopover in his journey between Tel Aviv and Lviv in Ukraine.
He was arrested at a hotel close to the airport after he provided his ID at check-in. By law, hotels in Italy have to scan a copy of a guest's ID document, and the details are sent to the local police for registration.
Alfonso Tatarano, Lavrenchuk's lawyer said that his name had been inserted into an international search system with a mandate for his arrest. He didn't know he was being looked for by Russian authorities or that his name was in this system. There are fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine as a result of the case.
On Thursday, the Ukrainian parliamentary commissioner for human rights said that Lavrenchuk was not made on the basis of a red notice by Interpol, but was distributed on a circular note distributed to a limited number of countries.
This testifies to Russia's abuse of the Interpol charter and its misuse as an instrument of hybrid warfare for the politically motivated persecution of Ukrainians, Denisova wrote on her Facebook page.
The warrant for Lavrenchuk's arrest was issued in July 2020 by a Moscow court. The accusations against him date back eight years when he asked for money to pay for repairs to the Polish Theatre.
It is not yet clear to Italian judicial authorities whether the court has issued a conviction for his alleged crimes or a preliminary injunction. The crime is punishable by 10 years in prison.
Tatarano said we don't have the complete records of the proceedings.
Russia has 40 days left to send its formal extradition request and related documents within 40 days from the day it was notified of Lavrenchuk's arrest. The case is handled by Luigi Riello, the chief prosecutor of the Naples appeals court.
Before submitting his evaluation to the court, Tatarano will evaluate the basis on which the request for extradition is being made. If there is a real danger that Lavrenchuk will receive unfair treatment or accusations are based on political opinions, the court will reject the extradition request. We have to prove this, and I think we can. Tatarano will appeal for Lavrenchuk to be released from custody or placed under house arrest pending the outcome of the legal process.
Over 1,400 followers on a Facebook page calling for Lavrenchuk's release have attracted more than 1,400 followers, while members of the Ukrainian community in Italy plan to protest in Milan on Saturday. The protesters wrote on Facebook that they were mobilising to show how the Russian regime exploits legal cases against Ukrainian citizens for its own political purposes.
PEN America, the writers association, has also called for Lavrenchuk's immediate release.
Polina Sadovskaya, PEN America's Eurasia director, said that the circumstances of Lavrenchuk's detention in Naples while transferring to a flight to Lviv after travelling from Tel Aviv is a disturbing echo of Belarus's move last year to force a Ryanair flight to land in order to arrest blogger Raman Protasevich. In this case, Lavrenchuk is one of the most visible voices against the Russian annexation of Crimea in the Eurasian theatre community, and Russia's extradition request against him bears the hallmarks of politically motivated repression.