Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported that the Polish Supreme Court overturned the decision regarding the extradition case of the Chechen asylum seeker Adam Mamilov who in 1994-1996 took part in the Chechen Republic Ichkeria armed forces against Russian invasion. The case will be revised by the Court of Appeal in Lublin city of Poland.

Adam Mamilov was a division captain in Grozny. The Prosecutor’s Office of the South Ossetia accused him of having participated in kidnapping the inhabitants of a Chechen village in 1996. He came to Poland in fear of persecutions. “I don’t want to be tried and sentenced for the act I didn’t commit,” he said.

He also applied for the refugee status. Initially, the Office for Foreigners in Poland refused him to grant it. The decision was sustained by the Council on Refugees. In January 2007, the Regional Court in Radom issued the decision on extradition that was later sustained by the Court of Appeal in Lublin.

Mamilov filed a complaint against the decision refusing him the refugee status with the Voivodship Administrative Court that overturned the decision of the Council on Refugees and pointed out that the court decision on extradition is not binding for the institutions granting the refugee status. The case was examined several times. Finally, Mamilov obtained the permission for tolerated stay. In 2007, Mamilov filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. The ECHR instructed to stay the extradition until the complaint is examined.

Adam Mamilov presented the case to the Polish Ombudsman who filed the cassation appeal against the extradition decision with the Supreme Court. The Ombudsman moved to overturn the court decisions of both instances. Examining the cassation motion, the Supreme Court overturned only the judgement issued by the Court of Appeal and pointed out that the substantiation of the judgement did not fulfil the procedural law standards.

“I am really glad that the case will be revised. I hope that there will be no extradition,” said Adam Mamilov on the decision.