SOFIA: A Sofia court on Wednesday refused to extradite a shipowner wanted by Lebanon over a devastating blast at Beirut’s port in 2020.
Lebanon wants Bulgaria to extradite Igor Grechushkin, a 48-year-old Russian-Cypriot, over the disaster.
The blast on August 4, 2020 was one of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosions, destroying swathes of the Lebanese capital, killing more than 220 people and injuring more than 6,500.
Grechushkin, who was arrested in September at Sofia airport, is accused by Lebanese judicial authorities of “introducing explosives into Lebanon — a terrorist act that resulted in the death of a large number of people — (and) disabling machinery with the intent of sinking a ship,” according to Bulgarian prosecutors.
But the Sofia city court refused Lebanon’s extradition request, ordering his release.
“Lebanon did not provide guarantees that, if he were sentenced to death, the sentence would not be carried out,” Grechushkin’s lawyer Ekaterina Dimitrova said.
The ruling can be appealed within the next seven days before the Sofia Court of Appeal, whose decision will be final, and the suspect will remain in custody until then.
Authorities in Lebanon say the 2020 explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been stored haphazardly for years, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.
Beirut authorities have identified Grechushkin as the owner of the Rhosus, the ship that brought the ammonium nitrate into the port.
A Lebanese investigation into the blast was long bogged down by legal and political wrangling.
Those questioned in the investigation include former Lebanese prime minister Hassan Diab, as well as military and security officials.