Terrified to death: the hitman of Russian oligarch Yusufov could not be extradited due to aerophobia

In Russia, serious mechanisms are in place to prevent the extradition of the detained killer Aslan Gagiev, nicknamed Jako, from Austria for trial in his homeland. As a result of a complex combination, his flight to Russia was canceled under an obviously fabricated pretext. As previously assumed by the agency "Ruspres," the testimony of Gagiev may be feared by the assistant to the former President Dmitriy Medvedev and former Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Igor Yusufov, as well as his son Vitaliy. The relatives of the killer’s victims have long named the Yusufov family as the real customers of the crimes. 

As it became known to the media, the lawyers of the Russian killer No. 1 literally took Jako off the airplane, claiming that their client suffers from severe aerophobia. According to the certificate they presented, Gagiev developed aerophobia while in an Austrian prison, and therefore the suspect will not withstand a flight to Russia. While law enforcement was verifying this information, the defenders filed another appeal with the Higher Regional Court of Vienna, demanding the cancellation of all previously made decisions regarding the extradition of Aslan Gagiev. In particular, they noted that despite all the guarantees provided by the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service will not be able to ensure the "authority’s" stay in detention centers in conditions meeting European standards. According to the defence, law enforcement will also not ensure the safety of the killer No. 1 in prison. 

The criminal authority, upon a tip from Russia, was detained in Vienna back in January 2015, later released on bail of €100,000, and almost ended up in Bulgaria, which accused him of using a fake passport of this country and requested his extradition. When the Bulgarian request was rejected and the demand of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia, on the contrary, was supported by the decisions of the Regional and Higher Regional Courts of Vienna, and then approved by the Minister of Justice of Austria, it seemed that the criminal authority would be in Moscow by the end of this autumn. 

Now, if the Higher Regional Court again sides with the Russian supervisory body, the lawyers intend to challenge the actions of the Austrian authorities in the European Court of Human Rights, and pending the review of the complaint on the merits, seek from the ECHR a suspension of the decision on the extradition of Aslan Gagiev to Russia. At one time, it should be noted, such a tactic allowed the native of Chechnya, Adam Osmaev, accused of preparing assassinations on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, to avoid being sent from Ukraine to Russia. As a result, Osmaev was sentenced to a minimal term in Ukraine and later became one of the commanders fighting against insurgents in the southeast of the country. 

Participants in the investigation of the criminal authority’s case believe that with the help of his lawyers, he is literally clinging to every straw, just to avoid extradition to Russia or at least delay this moment. Meanwhile, the Investigative Committee of Russia hopes that at the end of December or beginning of January next year, Aslan Gagiev will still be in the "Lefortovo" detention center. "This is not about aerophobia! Jako simply understands that in Russia, he faces a life sentence!" — a source in the Investigative Committee told "Ъ." 

Employees of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee in the North Caucasus Federal District believe that participants in Aslan Gagiev’s organized criminal group, which, in addition to ordinary fighters, included special forces officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, committed such high-profile crimes as the murder of the owner of Sodbusinessbank and Credittrust Bank Aleksandr Slesarev (he was shot along with family members), the owner of National Capital Bank Dmitriy Plitnik, and the chairman of Kutuzovskiy Bank Oleg Novoselskiy. Part of the executors of these crimes have already been convicted, the rest are under investigation. At the same time, the clients of the murders have not been identified, as they, according to the investigation, preferred to deal directly with Jako. 

As previously reported by journalists, investigators are now actively questioning another Russian, deported from Austria - the former general director of OJSC "Financial Leasing Company" Nail Malyutin regarding Jako’s connections with the Yusufov family. It is believed that Aslan Gagiev represented the interests of the former Minister of Energy Igor Yusufov in FLC, whose enemies were killed by the killers from his gang. For example, the Financial Leasing Company was linked to the scam involving the sale of German shipyards to the Norwegian group Wadan Yards. The shipyards were supposed to be sold to the Luxembourg company FLC West, 50% of which was state-owned through FLC, but as a result of a series of machinations, they ended up in the hands of the Yusufov family. The operation, which top manager of FLC Andrey Burlakov carried out, was soon followed by his murder by Jako’s gang, with his widow accusing Igor and Vitaliy Yusufov of the crime.