VILNIUS - The Vilnius District Administrative Court on May 22 revoked a decision by the Migration Department granting the former Russian banker Igor Babenko asylum in Lithuania. The court ruling may be appealed against to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania in seven days. The case was recently subjected to a closed-door hearing, which was attended by Babenko, his lawyer, a prosecutor from the Prosecutor General's Office, and representatives of the Migration Department. Publication of the ruling was postponed until May 22.
Babenko, who used to work in the Yukos group, is wanted for arrest in Russia for fraud. In early February, the Prosecutor General's Office dispatched an appeal to the Vilnius District Administrative Court to revoke the Migration Department's decision to grant Babenko asylum in Lithuania. The department granted refugee status to Babenko on Jan. 30, and gave him permission to live in the Baltic state. After the Prosecutor General's Office appealed the decision, the Court of Appeals decided to suspend its hearings, verifying a ruling handed down by a court of lower instance on Sept. 28, 2005 to hand Babenko over to Russia. After the banker applied for asylum in Lithuania, the court suspended the extradition case until the asylum issue is decided.
Russian prosecutors have expressed concern over Babenko's status. On May 23, they wrote a letter, which was signed by Russia's deputy prosecutor general, saying that Babenko was not being persecuted for political reasons. Russia has requested Babenko's extradition on suspicion of serious crimes, including the legalization of money or property obtained in a criminal way.
The Russian banker is currently being held at the Lukiskes interrogation prison in Vilnius. A court has extended his prison term for another three months.
Under the Lithuanian Criminal Code, persons who have been granted asylum cannot be extradited to foreign countries, except in cases when they have committed crimes that are defined by international agreements. One of such crimes is the legalization of money or property obtained by criminal methods. Babenko, who was charged with squandering over 333 million Russian rubles, has said on a number of occasions that he would be persecuted for political reasons in Russia. In his words, his only "guilt" was running a bank office owned by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former oligarch who was shunned by the Kremlin and subsequently imprisoned for tax fraud.
Babenko was arrested in Vilnius on July 1, 2005 upon Russia's request. He was later extradited on charges of embezzlement and money laundering under aggravating circumstances in 2002-2005. Khodorkovsky stated that Babenko was not a person of his circle, and that he did not know him personally. Democratic forces in Russia and the West believe that Khodorkovsky fell victim to some sort of reprisal after his existence became inconvenient for President Vladimir Putin's administration.
