Albania will not extradite a Russian woman accused of espionage

The court in Albania decided to reject the request for the extradition to Russia of the photographer and blogger Svetlana Timofeeva (Lana Sator), who was arrested on charges of espionage. This was reported by the Balkan Service of Radio Liberty.

Timofeeva herself did not make any statements during the hearing, and her defense attorney welcomed the court’s decision. “It was a correct decision, based on the law. If this citizen is extradited to Russia, she will be persecuted, her life will be in danger, as her position in relation to Putin’s regime is known,” said Timofeeva’s lawyer.

In Albania, the photographer is suspected of espionage, and in Russia she is arrested in absentia for illegally obtaining information constituting a state secret. In March, Timofeeva asked for political asylum in Albania – she said she was afraid of persecution if she returned to Russia.

Timofeeva is the author of photographs of abandoned industrial and military facilities, her Instagram account has more than 250 thousand followers. In August 2022, she, the Russian Mikhail Zorin and the Ukrainian Fyodor Alpatov were detained in the city of Gramsha in Albania when they tried to break into a military plant that produced ASH-78 assault rifles in Soviet times – copies of the Soviet AK-47.

The detainees claimed that they wanted to hold a photo session there. They had a gas canister with them, it is claimed that with its help they tried to resist being detained by the plant’s security. All of them face up to 20 years in prison.