Alexander Vinnik’s lawyer offered the authorities of the Russian Federation and the United States to exchange prisoners

The defense of the Russian programmer Alexander Vinnik, who is accused of laundering from $4 billion to $9 billion through the BTC-e exchange, is asking the Russian government to start negotiations with the United States on a prisoner exchange.

In July, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called on Russian authorities to release US citizens arrested in Russia, Reuters reported. We are talking about the American basketball player Brittney Griner (Brittney Griner), detained for illegal possession of drugs, and former Marine Paul Whelan, convicted of espionage.

Vinnik’s lawyer, Frederic Belot, sent a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asking him to start negotiations with Washington on a prisoner exchange. The ministry declined to comment immediately, but the Russian embassy in Washington expressed its readiness to provide Vinnik with the necessary legal assistance.

“Now the only thing that can save Alexander is the successful conduct of negotiations between Russia and the American authorities on this issue,” the lawyer said in a statement.

Vinnik was arrested in 2017 in Greece on charges by the US Attorney’s Office of money laundering and operating the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange. In early 2020, the Russian was extradited from Greece to France, where he was sentenced to five years in prison. The lawyer said that in France Vinnik was kept in solitary confinement. Later, psychiatrists revealed that he had partial memory loss, which was due to severe stress and prolonged isolation.

Then Vinnik was sent back to Greece, and in early August he was extradited from Greece to the United States. A court hearing has been scheduled for September 27th. If Vinnik is found guilty, he faces 55 years in prison, which is equivalent to a life sentence. Belo stated that his client has repeatedly denied and continues to deny all the charges against him.

Recall that in August another Russian citizen, Denis Dubnikov, was extradited to the United States from the Netherlands. He is also accused of money laundering through the EggChange cryptocurrency exchange, and faces up to 20 years in prison.