The Finnish police requested this Sunday a court order to arrest a Russian who lived under a pseudonym and is accused of committing war crimes against wounded soldiers or surrendered in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and 2015.
Yan Petrovsky, who lived in Finland under the name Voislav Torden, is already in Finnish custody, but authorities are calling for him to be formally detained while they conduct an investigation into his alleged crimes against Ukrainian soldiers.
The court’s decision on his arrest is expected on Monday.. The Supreme Court of Finland ruled that Petrovsky cannot be extradited to Ukrainewhere he faces an arrest warrant, due to risk of inhumane prison conditions in this country.
This decision indicates that the Finnish authorities intend to investigate and eventually try the Russian in Finland, a country that has signed treaties that allow the prosecution of international crimes.
Petrovsky is currently on the European Union sanctions list against Russia for allegedly being a founding member of the far-right group Rusichsuspected of terrorism crimes in Ukraine and linked to Russian mercenary group Wagneraccording to the Finnish news agency STT.
The man, who previously lived in Norway, was detained by Finnish authorities after being captured at Helsinki airport in July, shortly before traveling to Nice, France, with his family.
According to the press, despite the ban on entry into the European Union, Petrovsky managed to enter Finland thanks to a new identity and his wife’s status as a student in the Nordic country.
The National Investigation Bureau, a unit of the Finnish police, submitted the request for the arrest of Petrovsky, 36, to the Helsinki District Court on Sunday, according to the STT news agency.
STT quoting its Finnish lawyer stated that Petrovsky denied all criminal charges of war.
The Finnish Prosecutor’s Office indicated on Friday that Petrovsky is suspected of war crimes “committed against wounded or surrendered Ukrainian soldiers during the armed conflict in Ukraine” in 2014-2015.
“The crimes will be investigated by the Finnish authorities, since the suspect cannot be extradited to Ukraine and the case, as an international crime, is under the jurisdiction of Finland,” Finnish prosecutors said in a statement.
Source: TSF
