Russian journalist Andrei Nekrasov, who was arrested by the local police acting on an international arrest warrant, traveled back to Lithuania early on Wednesday morning without an escort from the Cypriot authorities in accordance with the relevant EU regulation, Minister of Justice and Public Order Ionas Nicolaou has told CNA.
Replying to CNA questions, Nicolaou recalled that the Minister of Interior had taken the decision to set in motion the precedures to return the Russian national to Lithuania from where he had originally traveled to Cyprus.
He said the journalist traveled to Lithuania in the early morning of Wednesday.
Asked whether he was accompanied by a member of the Cyprus police, Nicolaou explained that in such cases there is usually no police escort.
“This is the procedure followed in such cases where the relevant EU regulation is applied,” he noted.
Nekrasov, a Russian national, arrived in Cyprus on July 15. On arrival, he was arrested on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by INTERPOL. On July 16, he submitted an application for political asylum.
In a written statement on August 8, Interior Minister Socrates Hasikos explained that upon reviewing Nekrasov`s asylum application, it was evident that he had entered the EU through Lithuania, which issued him with a visa and a residence permit valid until May 2016.
On the basis of the provisions of the Dublin Regulation and the acquis communautaire, the Interior Minister decided to send Nekrasov back to Lithuania, the country which originally granted the Russian national a residence permit, the statement read.
