Former SBU General Andriy Naumov sentenced to a year in prison in Serbia, Ukraine seeks his extradition
Serbian police announce that money and diamonds found in his car "probably come from criminal activity"
A Serbian court has sentenced the former head of the SBU's Main Department of Internal Security, Andriy Naumov, to a year in prison on charges of money laundering, Radio Liberty reports.
The defense team announced its intention to appeal the decision.
"We believe that there are absolutely no grounds for conviction for the criminal offense of money laundering, because we believe that the defendant Andriy Naumov could not have committed this criminal offense, especially in Serbia," said Naumov's lawyer Milan Petrovic.
He also noted that he is awaiting the decision of the Court of Appeal on the extradition of Naumov to Ukraine.
Earlier, the court rejected the extradition request for Naumov, who has been in custody in Serbia since June 2022.
Naumov was arrested when he was trying to get from Serbia to North Macedonia.
Andriy Naumov, who was released from the SBU in 2021, fled Ukraine a few hours before the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
Ukraine is seeking his extradition. The court of first instance rejected the Ukrainian request and the case is currently under consideration by the Court of Appeal.
In Serbia, Naumov was arrested last summer while trying to travel to North Macedonia. In his car, undeclared cash was found: more than 600 thousand euros, about $125 thousand, as well as precious stones.
The Serbian police announced that the money and diamonds found during the inspection of the car "probably originated from criminal activity," and Naumov was charged with money laundering.
At the trial, Naumov denied the investigation's accusations and claimed that it was his personal money.
As reported, in Ukraine, Naumov was served with two suspicions: misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property by abuse of office and abuse of power or official position (Part 4 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code) and fraud committed on a large scale (Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv imposed on him a pre-trial restraint in the form of detention in absentia. Naumov was also put on the international wanted list.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stripped Naumov of his general rank on April 1, 2022, while stating that he "does not have time to deal with all traitors, but gradually all of them will be punished."
