Artem Uss is located in Russia. The son of the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory said that he was forced to escape from house arrest in Milan because he does not believe in the objectivity of justice there.
The United States accuses the businessman of evading sanctions and money laundering, smuggling oil to a Venezuelan company and transferring dual-use products. At the request of Washington, he was detained in Italy. On March 21, the Milan Court of Appeal approved the extradition of Uss to the United States. He escaped from house arrest two days later. There was no exact information about his whereabouts.
Artem Uss talked to RIA Novosti. The agency gives only a couple of fragmentary quotes:
“I am in Russia! In these few especially dramatic days, strong and reliable people were by my side. Thanks to them.”
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“The Italian court, on whose impartiality I initially counted, has demonstrated its clear political bias. Unfortunately, he is also ready to succumb under pressure from the US authorities.”
Earlier, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, citing sources in the investigating authorities, wrote that Uss Jr. was helped to escape from house arrest by a group of six to seven people, possibly from Eastern Europe. At least four vehicles were involved in the operation.
The businessman’s father, Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Alexander Uss, stated that he did not know where his son was. About what awaits Artem Uss already in Russia, the lawyer of the Moscow Bar Association Gadzhimurad Magomedgadzhiev argues:
“If he is in Russia, he has the opportunity to contact a lawyer and challenge all actions for his extradition to America and detention in Italy through Italian lawyers. He has the right to qualified legal assistance both on the territory of the Russian Federation, and on the territory of Italy and the USA. The Russian authorities are obliged to detain him today, because Russia did not come out of anything like that, we still have international treaties signed and the rules must be observed. Another question is how all this will be resolved, whether they will detain him or not, this remains in question, and in such conditions, each situation with extradition is resolved separately. And even the district police officer has the right to detain him. If, for example, he is detained by traffic police, his identity is established, his presence on the wanted list in Interpol is displayed in any police station in Russia, he is required to be detained until his identity is ascertained, he is brought in, and then the police decide whether to detain him or not. He will face these problems every time. The most interesting thing is that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia also demanded it. If he is arrested in Russia in absentia on alleged money laundering on October 27, 2022 and he is put on the federal wanted list, that is, if he is arrested in Russia in absentia, there will also be questions. Another thing is that we are talking about the fact that the Russian special services, the authorities, under the current sanctions conditions, will help him and will not detain him, we also understand this.”
Shortly after his arrest in Milan in Russia, Uss Jr. was also charged with a criminal case, this time for money laundering. He was arrested in absentia, and Moscow began to demand his extradition to his homeland. The lawyer of Uss himself said that now Artem Uss is in Moscow and today voluntarily appeared in the investigative department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. There he gave detailed answers to the questions asked on the merits of the case. He was released on bail. What could be the reaction of Italy, says local journalist Sergei Iezuitov.
“The reaction of the authorities so far is very sluggish. As far as I know, everything was only a statement of the fact that they disappeared, fled, it is not clear how, it is not clear with whose support. And there was a message that he showed up in Moscow. For Italy, I think, these are image losses, because this case was noticed in the international arena, but no one will spin this story, because it does not characterize positively those Italian services that are designed to ensure that they stay on the territory of the country, especially at home. arrest. I think that they will review certain points of their legislation. The Italians will now be very closely involved in this matter, and they have drawn the appropriate conclusions for themselves so that this does not happen again in the future.
If extradited to the United States, Artem Uss was threatened with up to 30 years in prison.