Italy arrests opera director on dubious Russian warrant
NewsPolice in Naples have arrested the Ukrainian opera director Yevhen Lavrenchuk during a stopover on a flight from Tel Aviv to Lviv.
Lavrenchuk, 39, is accused by the Russians of financial misemeanours while he was director of the Polish Theatre in Moscow.
He denies any wrongdoing. The director, who is being held at Poggioreale prison in Naples, left his Moscow job in 2014 in protest at Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and its war against Ukraine.
Putin has made use of alleged financial crimes to harrass other theatre personnel – notably Kirill Serebrennikov – but this is the first time such spurious accusations have led to an arrest on foreign soil. Lavrenchuk had never set foot in Italy before his arrest.
A FreeLavrenchuk page has been opened on Facebook.
What is “Polish Theater” in Moscow?
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2011/06/07/polish-theater-done-in-polish-in-moscow-a7490
Yeah, yeah, if Russia does it, it’s dubious and Putin blah blah blah
You know nothing of this case besides ‘russia wants this guy so he must be a great man, a lover of democracy, a freedom fighter who dared to tell Vlad to his face…blah blah blah’.
Pathetic.
If this doesn’t look dubious to you, you must have had too much Kremlin Cool Aid.
Thanks, Vlad, we were just sitting on pins and needles awaiting your thoughtful penetrating response.
This stinks to high heaven. Arrested on a stopover ??
There’s recent history of that…Protasevich. Belarus may have done it, but YKW were complicit.
Russia does not allow extradition outside the country. Russia has a joke justice system totally subservient to politicians (e.g. banning “Memorial” last week”. Why would any country take any notice of a Russian warrant?
Italy is hardly a land known for its political genius or legal prowess. Almost as backwards as Russia in those areas (and with a similar propensity for organized crime).
Yup. The French would not have allowed it.