Italian court places Russian governor's son under house arrest

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
28 Nov 2022 15:44
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The court will be making a final decision on Uss's extradition to the US.

Artem Uss, son of Alexander USS, the governor of Krasnoyarsk Territory in Russia.

The Appeals Court of Milan on Monday ordered the release of Russian prisoner Artem Uss, who is the son of Alexander Uss, the governor of Krasnoyarsk Territory in Russia. Uss, under house arrest, remains in custody, according to Russian Consul General in Milan, Dmitry Shtodin.

Italian news agency ANSA reported that Artem Uss has been released from prison and placed under house arrest, in addition to being obliged to wear an electronic bracelet until the end of the judicial review of his extradition to the United States, according to the media outlet.

"Artem Uss has not been released yet. The Appeals Court only decided to transfer him to a rented city apartment in Milan. It is not clear yet when Uss will be released from custody," Shtodin said.

While he was obliged to wear an electronic bracelet while under house arrest, Italy only had a limited number of these devices and thus delayed Uss' release.

"When such a bracelet is found and put on him, Uss will be placed under house arrest. We will monitor the situation," the Russian consul general told Sputnik.

The US Department of Justice in October charged Uss and 4 other Russian citizens with sanction evasion and money laundering. Artem Uss was accused of using forged documents to purchase sensitive US military equipment for Russian defense. In the same month, he was immediately arrested at Milan Malpensa Airport, Italy, on his way to Turkey. He has been in prison for a month in the city of Busto Arsizio.

In early November, the US transferred its papers to the Milan court to extradite Uss to the US. Last Friday, Milan's prosecutor responded positively.

Now, the court will be making a final decision on the Uss extradition.

Artem Uss has pleaded not guilty, telling the Milan court last Friday that he had never been to New York, and that the last time he'd gone to the US was 25 years ago.

This information refutes the data in the US charging documents, Uss said.

Russia, meanwhile, is seeking to extradite Uss to Russia because he has been accused of money laundering at home - on a large scale, through an organized group.