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.
Bulgaria court refuses to extradite Beirut blast shipowner
https://arab.news/c72fa
Bulgaria court refuses to extradite Beirut blast shipowner
- Igor Grechushkin is accused by Lebanese judicial authorities of ‘introducing explosives into Lebanon’
- Ruling can be appealed within the next seven days before the Sofia Court of Appeal
Chile wildfires leave 19 dead amid extreme heat as scores evacuated
- Fast-moving wildfires being worsened by intense heat, winds
- Firefighters battling 23 active blazes spreading toward cities
CONCEPCION, Chile: Wildfires in Chile have left at least 19 people dead, authorities said on Monday, as the government carried out mass evacuations and fought nearly two dozen blazes exacerbated by intense heat and high winds.
While weather conditions overnight helped control some fires, the largest were still active, with adverse conditions expected throughout the day, security minister, Luis Cordero, said at a news briefing on Monday.
“The projection we have today is of high temperatures,” Cordero said, and the main worry was that new fires would be triggered throughout the region.
Parts of central and southern Chile were under extreme heat warnings with temperatures expected to reach up to 37 Celsius (99 Fahrenheit).
STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN NUBLE, BIO BIO
As of late Sunday, Chile’s CONAF forestry agency said firefighters were combating 23 fires across the country, the largest of which were in regions of Ñuble and Bío Bío, where President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe.
Over 20,000 hectares (77 square miles) have been razed so far, an area about the size of Seattle, with the largest fire surpassing 14,000 hectares on the outskirts of the coastal city Concepcion.
The fast-moving blaze tore through the towns of Penco and Lirquen over the weekend, destroying hundreds of homes and killing several people, with authorities still assessing the damage.
HEAT, BLAZES ALSO IMPACT ARGENTINA
Authorities are currently battling the fire as it threatened Manzano prison on the edge of Concepcion and the town of Tome to the north.
Both Chile and Argentina rang in the new year with heat waves which have continued into January. Earlier this month, wildfires broke out in Argentina’s Patagonia, burning around 15,000 hectares.
