The Russian government on Tuesday agreed to appeal a decision by the European Court of Human Rights to overturn the extradition from Russia to Colombia of Israeli mercenary Yair Klein, following a request by Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez, reported Colombian media.
The Colombian official met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss the European court’s ruling last week that Klein should not be extradited to Colombia, where he has been sentenced to over ten years in prison on charges of training Colombian paramilitary groups in the 1980s.
After the decision received heavy criticism from the Colombian government, who described the ruling as “a black mark for human rights in the world,” Bermudez called on the Russian government to support an appeal that would see Klein extradited to Colombia from Russia, where he is currently imprisoned.
According to reports, Lavrov agreed on behalf of the Russian government to pursue the appeal.
The former Israeli army lieutenant colonel was convicted in absentia by a Colombian court in 2001, for training illegal armed groups in the 1980s. He was sentenced to ten years and eight months in prison.