The decision to extradite to Ukraine citizens who contribute to the illegal entry of migrants into Europe and are on Polish territory is taken by the court, and Poland has already transferred some of them to Kyiv. And what about the “evaders”?
In today’s article in Polish edition Rzeczpospolita, dedicated to men who illegally left Ukraine for a bribe, as stated in the annotation, it says that Poland is expelling citizens of the country who participated in the transfer of illegal immigrants to Europe and contributed to the illegal departure of Ukrainian men abroad:
“Poland has already expelled … Ukrainian citizens who are smuggling illegal immigrants to Europe. It turns out that most of the couriers of illegal migrants that Poland catches are citizens of Ukraine. The punishment for aiding and abetting is up to eight years.”
Initially, the article was called “Poland began to extradite men who left the country to Ukraine,” but a few hours later the publication changed it to “Ukraine returns compatriots who fled the country to war.” The material analyzes the potential possibility of extradition to Ukraine of mobilization evaders, and in this context it is mentioned who Poland has already expelled in the past, in accordance with agreements with Kiev:
“Kyiv is considering the possibility of prosecuting men who, thanks to bribes, did not go to war and found refuge abroad.”
The Rzeczpospolita article says: in order to return people who illegally left the country to the country, Ukraine must issue an international indictment against each of them. Inspector Mariusz Carka, a spokesman for the General Police Headquarters, quoted by the publication as saying:
“If we stop such a foreigner, for example, for a routine check on the road, our KSIP system (National Police Information System) will show that this is a person who is being pursued by the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, because there is Interpol data. We detain such a person and inform the prosecutor’s office . The Polish court decides whether he will be extradited.”
According to the data of the Polish Border Service, prepared at the request of Rzeczpospolita, from February 24 last year to August 31 this year, almost 2.87 million Ukrainian citizens aged 18-60 entered Poland, and almost 2.8 million Ukrainians left. Lieutenant Anna Michalska, spokesperson for the border guards, notes:
“One person could cross the border up to several tens and even hundreds of times. But if we subtract exits from entrances, then about 80,000 Ukrainians remain in Poland, who could potentially be subject to mobilization. How many of them actually meet the conditions for exemption from mobilization? It is not known” .
Fedor Venislavsky of the Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine says:
“This is a significant number for Ukraine, since these people could be mobilized and fill the ranks of our armed forces, thus strengthening our defense and security.”
Recall: the head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, suggested that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies would demand the extradition of men of military age who illegally left Ukraine, avoiding mobilization. On August 30, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, they decided to conduct a comprehensive review of the validity of the decisions of military medical commissions on disability and unfitness for military service, which were made on February 24, 2022.
Lately how wrote our publication, there are many threats to initiate criminal cases against evaders and promises of extradition to Ukraine, but the implementation of such measures is doubtful, as well as the intentions to punish the owners of fake “white tickets”. To prove the falsification of the diagnosis in order to obtain a “white ticket”, it is necessary to re-pass the medical commission or admit to receiving a bribe for the “fake” conclusion of doctors and military commissars.
Extradition is a very complex and time-consuming procedure, and it starts with lawsuits in Ukraine. The court must decide on the person’s arrest in absentia, after which this decision must enter into force (that is, stand on appeal, if any). And only after that you can apply for extradition.
First you need to establish the location of the suspect and send a request to this country. There are no human and organizational resources to establish the whereabouts of tens and hundreds of thousands of dodgers in Ukraine through operational measures. Although you can go the other way – put the evaders on the international wanted list through Interpol and, as soon as they are detained somewhere, send a request for extradition.
In this regard, it is worth recalling that extradition in Europe is an extremely lengthy process. For example, the issue of extradition of Dmitry Firtash to the United States has been considered in Austria for almost 10 years. In addition, it is not a fact that the court will satisfy the request for extradition. In the case of evaders, the issue of security will be very acute, since the defense side will certainly try to prove that they are not going to be sent to prison, but immediately to the front.
There is also a possibility that the Ukrainian authorities will try to negotiate with the countries EU, with Canada, the United States and Britain on how to somehow complicate the life of Ukrainian men of military age there. For example, Kyiv may try to convince its allies to refuse to grant conscripts the right to reside (temporary shelter) or not to renew an existing one. But, of course, there is no guarantee that such attempts will be successful.
Об угрозе экстрадиции военнообязанных pic.twitter.com/d4Snqi072R
— Athens News (@russianathens) September 3, 2023
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