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Romania's ambassador to Cyprus meets Cypriot Justice Minister on extradition of Beny Steinmetz
Romanian Ambassador to Cyprus Dan Mihalache on Tuesday met Cyprus's Minister of Justice and Public Order Anna Koukkides Procopiou.
"Had a great meeting with my old friend, Anna Koukkides Procopiou, in her capacity of Minister of Justice and Public Order of Cyprus. Discussed topics of mutual interest and ways to strengthen our bilateral cooperation within the framework of the EU," the ambassador said in a social media post.
Asked by AGERPRES if the extradition of the Israeli citizen Beny Steinmetz, detained in Cyprus under a European arrest warrant issued in Romania, was on the agenda of the meeting with the Cypriot minister, the Romanian ambassador said yes.
"The [Romanian] Ministry of Justice will provide the Cypriot authorities with the documentation regarding the conditions of detention in Romania that meet European standards," Mihalache told AGERPRES.
In December 2020, Beny Steinmetz was sentenced to five years in prison in the 'Baneasa Farm' case regarding illegal returning of land, together with another Israeli businessman, Tal Silberstein (five years), Remus Truica (seven years), Paul of Romania (three years and four months), journalist Dan Andronic (three years suspended).
Paul of Romania managed to flee the country before the sentence was pronounced, and European arrest warrants were issued on businessmen Tal Silberstein and Beny Steinmetz.
On September 3, judicial sources said that after Steinmetz, internationally wanted to serve a five-year prison sentence, was spotted at the Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus, the authorities started the procedure of handing him over to Romania.
The Press Office of the General Police Inspectorate of Romania (IGPR) reported that on August 31, following co-operation by the Siren Bureau - Police Cooperation Centre - IGPR, a 67-year-old man, an Israeli citizen, was spotted at Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus.
"He was wanted to be handed over under a European arrest warrant issued on January 12, 2021, by the Brasov Court of Appeal," said IGPR.
He was sentenced to five years in prison for forming an organised criminal group with the aim of acquiring all the wealth claimed under special returning legislation, through corruption/similar crimes, by offering money/goods to people with influence over public officials, in order to determine them to act according to the group's purpose, the instigation and complicity in the commission by these persons of the crime of abuse of office and influence peddling implicating public officials.
"The person in question was arrested, and the extradition procedure to Romania will be carried out," said IGPR.
Steinmetz also has a sentence of five years in prison to serve that was issued in January by a Swiss court after he was found guilty of bribing public officials to get mining licenses in Guinea.
