A local court in Serbia held a session on Tuesday to read Ukraine’s request for the extradition of its former security service chief, Andriy Naumov, detained in Serbia.
The fugitive former security service general was arrested at a Serbian border crossing with North Macedonia in June, carrying more than half a million euros on him.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed and demoted Naumov in March, after he left the country following Russia’s invasion. State prosecutors launched an investigation against him for possible high treason.
Following the session at the High Court in the southern city of Niš, held behind closed doors, Naumov’s defence counsel Tanja Savić said the extradition request featured several criminal offences but not high treason, Danas.rs reported.
However, both she and her defence colleague Milan Petrović stressed it could still be formally added later. Petrović told reporters the list currently includes the counts of abuse of office and embezzlement from 2018.
The court in Niš will have its next sitting on 3 November.
If it rules in favour of the extradition, Naumov can still appeal to the appellate court.
After the appellate court’s ruling, Serbia’s justice minister can approve or reject the extradition or postpone the matter.
Serbia has offered no support to Ukraine since the war in Ukraine started and has refused to join in EU sanctions against Russia, Belgrade’s traditional ally and its main supplier of oil and gas.
