Russia demands that Israel send over Putin-enemy Leonid Nevzalin, in exchange for Yair Klein, 67, an Israeli imprisoned in Russia and wanted by Colombia. Klein says no.
Klein is wanted by Colombia for training anti-government guerilla groups involved in terrorist activities in the 1980’s, and was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. In August 2007, he was arrested in Russia after Interpol issued an international warrant for his arrest – and has been held there ever since. Klein has petitioned the European Human Rights Court to instruct Russia not to turn him over to Colombia, where he – and others – have reason to believe that he will be targeted for death.
The European court in Strasbourg, France, issued a temporary ruling earlier this year preventing the extradition, and is expected to issue its final ruling in a matter of weeks.
Of late, it has become clear that Russia would agree to release Klein to Israel – if Israel agrees to turn over a top enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Leonid Nevzalin. A former president of the Russian Federation of Jewish Communities, Nevzalin is wanted for what many feel are trumped-up murder charges.
Klein, whose life hangs in the balance, says he does not want to be traded for Nevzalin. In a letter to his family members in Israel, Klein writes that he wishes to tell the government of Israel as follows: “I am writing this letter out of a sense of conscience… I ask the government, via my lawyers: Do not exchange me for Nevzalin. I have already undergone the difficult period of being under the Russian justice system – a system that has no connection, not even incidental, with law – and there is no reason that another Jew should have to go through this nightmare.”
Klein continues:
Klein's Life Endangered in Colombia“This letter must appear in the Israeli media, even if the lawyers don’t agree.
“The previous Israeli government that lost the last elections did not defend me; I hope at least that the new government will defend Nevzalin. In that case, I will be able to continue to sit in prison [in Russia] with a clean conscience, and not to walk freely around Israel knowing that my release caused a catastrophe to another Jew and his family.“The State of Israel and the Government of Israel must understand that a Jewish soul and Jewish life are not merchandise for exchange.
One of Klein’s Israeli lawyers, Mordechai Tzivin of Tel Aviv, an international-affairs lawyer specializing in representing Israelis incarcerated abroad and who is representing Klein at no charge, expressed confidence regarding the upcoming European Court ruling: “We are sure that this court, which has always preserved human rights, will follow the same course this time as well, because of the certainty that Klein’s civil rights will be violated in Colombia… For Klein to return to Colombia for 10 years in jail, where many convicts are sworn enemies of those he was accused of having helped, means an almost certain death sentence.”
Tzivin also noted “the absurdity of a country [Russia] toying with the justice system of another country in this manner. Whoever heard of a country demanding a trade like this, without regard for the due process of law - especially when there is no evidence against Nevzalin?”