19:30, 10 September 2025

Kinoyan's lawyers demanded that Armenian authorities not extradite him to Russia

Giorgi Kinoyan. Photo: https://jam-news.net

Armenian human rights activists have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Georgiy Kinoyan. His lawyers have demanded that the extradition procedure to Russia be suspended.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, Georgian citizen Georgiy Kinoyan, who participated in the military conflict in Ukraine, was detained in Armenia. On October 25, 2024, Georgiy Kinoyan was convicted in absentia in the Donetsk region and sentenced to seven years in prison.

Georgiy Kinoyan, a citizen of Georgia who fought in Ukraine, has been in pretrial detention for the seventh day. The Armenian Ministry of Justice stated that the consideration of his case has not begun, Pirveli TV channel reports. According to the lawyer, the request was sent to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Justice of Armenia. "If Kinoyan is extradited to Russia, there are risks of his illegal punishment and violation of fundamental human rights," the lawyer told the TV channel.

"Yesterday, we already sent a request to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Justice for the immediate release of Georgy Kinoyan, since he was illegally detained, since the sentence was handed down by the illegally occupied Donetsk court. Now we are preparing a statement that will be sent to the European Court of Human Rights so that immediate measures can be taken to release Kinoyan, since if Kinoyan is extradited to Russia, there are risks of his illegal punishment and violation of fundamental human rights," human rights activist Artur Sakunts said on the TV channel.

"We will not contact the Georgian Embassy. Georgia itself can act diplomatically. I can say with certainty in advance that there will be no extradition. In our opinion, Armenia will not extradite a Georgian citizen to Russia," he added.

29-year-old Georgiy Kinoyan was arrested on September 3, 2025, after crossing the Georgian-Armenian border. He was traveling to Armenia with his parents. His family reported this. The Russian Federation has declared him wanted on charges of participating in hostilities against Russia on the territory of Ukraine. He is currently serving a 40-day pretrial detention and faces extradition to Russia. The Armenian authorities automatically notified the Russian Federation of the detention of a person wanted by Russia. The Armenian side has not yet received a direct request for extradition from Russia, which is a standard procedure.

According to the detainee's brother, his lawyer has not yet been to prison, and the Georgian side, according to him, has filed an appeal to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the TV channel reported.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/415307