Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz has been detained in Athens on an arrest warrant issued by Romania, police and legal sources say.
The 68-year-old was detained yesterday, hours after arriving on a private aircraft at Athens International Airport, police sources say.
The European arrest warrant was issued on behalf of Romania on accusations related to participation in a criminal organization, a police official says on condition of anonymity.
Steinmetz is expected to appear before a prosecutor today.
Steinmetz’s lawyer says the decision to arrest him stemmed from “a blatant abuse of procedure by the Romanian authorities.”
“It is unprecedented for the rule of law in Greece, or any other respected country, for such an administrative act to overturn a decision of the Greek judiciary, which had definitively and irrevocably ruled against his extradition to Romania, recognizing his right to travel freely,” the attorney, Stavros Togias, says in a press release.
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