On October 17 local time, the Warsaw Regional Court rejected Germany's extradition request for a Ukrainian citizen suspected of involvement in the "Nord Stream" gas pipeline explosion and released the man on the spot. The court ruled that the evidence submitted by Germany was insufficient to support the extradition. Polish Prime Minister Tusk agreed with the court's decision.

According to the Polish Press Agency (PAP), during the trial, the judge of the Warsaw Regional Court pointed out that the materials provided by Germany lacked sufficient evidence and could not meet the requirements for extradition at this stage. The judge emphasized that the Polish court currently has no available evidence to support the relevant ruling and added that this decision can still be appealed by Germany.

According to the German prosecutors' charges, the 46-year-old Ukrainian suspect, Vladimir Z, is a professionally trained diver who is alleged to have rented the "Andromeda" yacht with others in 2022, traveling to the waters near Bornholm Island in Denmark, where he placed explosive devices to sabotage the "Nord Stream-1" and "Nord Stream-2" pipelines. Prosecutors stated that he participated in the planning and implementation of the entire operation, and is accused of violating the German Criminal Code's anti-constitutional destruction offense. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

The suspect was arrested in Warsaw on September 30 on a German arrest warrant, but he denied all the charges and claimed that he was in Ukraine at the time of the incident.

The suspect Vladimir Z PAP

The judge, while reading the ruling, stated that the "Nord Stream" attack should be considered a military operation under the context of war, and thus does not constitute a common criminal offense that can be extradited under the current legal framework. This is one of the important reasons why the Polish court rejected Germany's request.

Polish Prime Minister Tusk later expressed on X platform that this ruling was "reasonable" and supported the court's decision. He said, "The Polish court has refused to extradite the Ukrainian national suspected of damaging the 'Nord Stream-2' pipeline to Germany and has released him. It is correct to do so, and this matter is now concluded."

X platform

"Nord Stream-1" and "Nord Stream-2" are submarine gas pipelines connecting Russia with Germany and other European countries, originally planned to provide stable natural gas supply to Europe. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, the pipeline became a focus of geopolitical rivalry, with Ukraine and some European countries concerned that its operation would weaken their strategic position in the energy sector.

On September 26, 2022, violent explosions occurred in the waters near Denmark and Sweden, damaging three of the four pipelines, resulting in a large amount of natural gas leakage.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7562352461005079040/

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