Ex-SSU General Naumov, who fled Ukraine, is released from Serbian prison

Former SBU General Andriy Naumov, who was sentenced to a year in prison for money laundering in Serbia, has been released.

Source. This was reported by the BBC with reference to the High Court of Nis.

The former SBU official was released from a Serbian prison in early December, but his documents were seized and he was banned from leaving the country due to an appeal.

"He is not yet allowed to leave the country and [a particular] city until the appeal process is completed," the court said.

Naumov's lawyers filed a complaint against the decision to ban him from leaving Serbia, arguing that it was a threat to their client's life, but the court did not satisfy it.

According to the lawyer, as part of the extradition case, the court found that there was a real threat to Naumov's life: he himself claimed the danger associated with staying in Serbia.

"There are contradictions in the position of the same court, as well as in actions aimed at isolating Andrey Naumov. Our team is documenting all the violations in this process for further appeal in international instances," the lawyer said.

The Serbian court announced the decision in Naumov's money laundering case in September 2023. At that time, he had almost served his one-year sentence. Subsequently, both the defense and the prosecution filed appeals against this decision. Their consideration is ongoing.

Andriy Naumov worked for a long time at the Prosecutor General's Office and later at the State Agency for the Management of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. In 2018, he became the director of the State Enterprise "Center for Organizational, Technical and Information Support of the Exclusion Zone Management".

Subsequently, law enforcement agencies raised questions about his activities.

From the summer of 2019 to 2021, Naumov headed the SBU's Main Department of Internal Security under the leadership of Ivan Bakanov. This department is responsible for controlling the SBU's own employees so that they do not commit crimes or engage in corruption.

In October 2020, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy promoted Naumov to the rank of brigadier general.

Naumov left Ukraine on the eve of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. A month after the outbreak of full-scale war, the president stripped him of his general rank and called him a traitor.

In the summer of 2022, Naumov was detained in Serbia with undeclared cash – about 600 thousand euros and $120 thousand were found in his possession. A case was opened against him and he was sent to a pre-trial detention center.

While the money laundering investigation was underway in Serbia, the Ukrainian press began to link Naumov's name to the treason case against the former head of the Crimean Security Service, Oleg Kulinich.

However, it turned out that Naumov was not involved in Kulinich's case, and the treason case against him was never opened in Ukraine due to lack of evidence.

However, two other cases have been opened against Naumov, both involving alleged economic crimes. The SBI is investigating two cases of fraud and abuse of power during the time when Naumov was in charge of the Center for Organizational, Technical and Information Support for the Management of the Exclusion Zone.

Ukraine put him on the international wanted list and asked Serbia for extradition, but was denied: Serbia suggests that Naumov may be persecuted for political reasons.