The Brazilian Justice Ministry has turned down the US request to extradite Sergey Cherkasov, a Russian foreign military intelligence employee who is accused of spying by Washington, the ministry said in a statement.
Photo: Sergey Cherkasov
The Justice Ministry said it had received two extradition requests — one from Russia and one from the US. On 17 March 2023, the Russian Supreme Court signed off on the statement on Cherkasov’s voluntary extradition to Russia. The ruling entered into force on 11 April but was suspended.
“As for the US request, the Asset Recovery and International Legal Cooperation Department of the Justice Ministry considered it groundless because the defendant is already facing an extradition request approved by the Supreme Court,” the ruling reads.
A senior Brazilian official told The Wall Street Journal that the Cherkasov case decision “is preliminary and subject to review” by Brasilia.
The official also noted that the Brazilian authorities did not immediately notify the US about the decision and refused to provide a detailed account of the decision-making process.
Last year, Bellingcat and The Insider published an investigation about Sergey Cherkesov, a Russian foreign military intelligence employee who lived in Brazil disguised as a citizen under the name of Victor Muller Ferreira.
On 1 April 2022, he arrived in the Netherlands for an internship in the International Criminal Court (ICC). The man was detained in the airport on suspicion of ID forgery and deported back to Brazil. Considering how long “Ferreira” was using the fake passport, he was facing up to 15 years in prison.
Cherkasov was arrested in summer in Brazil and accused of falsifying documents. Russia then requested his extradition after Cherkasov became a defendant in a drug smuggling case.
Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office provided documents where Cherkasov is claimed to have traded heroin for several years. At the same time, the case materials have quite a few loose ends. Reporters believe that the case was fabricated to avoid acknowledging that he was a spy.
The US also requested his extradition from Brazil. Cherkasov was later sentenced to 15 years in prison for forging documents.
On 24 July, this sentence was cut to five years and two months. TASS reports that the local legislation will allow the Russian to serve a suspended sentence outside of prison.
