The Russian suspect of espionage in Albania refuses to return to her country

The Russian citizen, Svetlana Timofoeva, arrested on August 20, 2022 in Albania, on suspicion of espionage, has refused to willingly accept her return to Russia.

In mid-December 2022, Russia officially asked Albania to extradite 33-year-old Svetlana Timofoeva, where the Ministry of Justice in Albania has then passed the request for further actions to the General Prosecutor's Office and the latter to the prosecutor's office of Elbasan, which has Russian citizen Svetlana Timofoeva is under investigation.

"I do not want to be extradited to Russia, as I risk being subjected to other punishments for actions that are not violations of the law, but that I will be treated in this way. I was against the Russian attack on Ukraine. Regarding Putin's political stance on the war in Ukraine, I have openly opposed it on social networks", says Timofoeva in the interview given to the prosecutors in Elbasan.

When Svetlana Timofoeva was interviewed about the extradition issue, she said that Russia is looking for her based on a court decision, but she does not feel safe in the Russian state, as this state wants to punish her for a case where she was only a witness.

"My extradition to Russia will be followed by my persecution because of my social and political beliefs, national affiliation, respect for the separation of powers. "I am not safe in the Russian state because it wants to punish me for a case where I am only a witness," Timofieva asserted.

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However, the same claim as that of Svetlana Timofoevas was given to the prosecutor's office and the court by the other arrested Russian citizen, Mikhail Zorin, despite the fact that there is no request for extradition against the latter.

Zorin claimed at the Court of Appeal in Durrës in September last year when the security measure was reviewed that he was a supporter of the imprisoned Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny.

Meanwhile, in the extradition request, it is said that Svetlana Timofoeva in 2018 was involved in the theft of secret state documents from a Russian institution, for which no other details are given.

Although in the request, it is specified that this criminal offense was committed in 2018, the arrest warrant was issued only a few days after the arrest in Albania of Svetlana Timofoeva, together with Mikhail Zorin and Fedis Alpatov. The extradition request of Russia will be examined by the Court of Elbasan, where the prosecution near this court has under investigation the Russian citizen, Svetlana Timofoeva with her compatriot, Mikhail Zorin and the Ukrainian, Fedis Alpatov. After the arrival of the request for extradition, the investigation group at the Prosecutor's Office of Elbasan announced that the Russian Federation is trying at all costs to escape from punishment in Albania, Svetlana Timofoeva, where according to the prosecutors, this request from Russia for the extradition of Svetlana Timofoeva shows the importance she has among those who sent her on a spying mission to Albania, simultaneously aggravating her position, where suspicions have been raised that Timofoeva was put to work by the Russian military secret service, GRU.

But Timofieva's sudden refusal to be extradited to her country has caused the investigation to take an unexpected turn.

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Svetlana Timofoeva is held in women's prison 325 of Tirana, but for a period of three months she stayed in the prison hospital.

On August 24, the court of Elbasan sent to prison two Russian citizens and one Ukrainian who were arrested on suspicion of espionage at the military plant in Gramsh. Of the four charges filed by the prosecution, the court informed that two criminal offenses were referred to the Russians suspected of espionage, namely that of "providing information" and "hitting due to duty".

The Prosecution of Elbasan has submitted to the court that from their interrogation until this stage of the investigation, the prosecution has reasonable data bases that create the suspicion based on evidence that they "came to Albania with a recruited mission by the Russian intelligence services with defined tasks".

Lawyers for the three accused of espionage insist that the prosecution has not brought any evidence against the detainees and that they could not be held in prison on the basis of suspicion without evidence.

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According to them, the prosecution's claim on the seized tools, laptops and cameras did not stand, as they were widely used tools.

The lawyers claim that the detainees are students and bloggers and "there was no criminal charge" against them. Meanwhile, the investigations into this serious incident, considered as the first attack by Russia in a NATO country, continue by the Prosecution of Elbasan.