Armenia Refuses to Extradite Russian Programmer to the US

Armenia's Civil Court of Appeal has rejected a motion by the country's prosecutors against the release of Russian national Sergei Mironov, sought by US authorities on suspicion of money laundering and illegal technology transfer, a source in the Armenian Prosecutor General's Office said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Mironov, 30, was detained in Yerevan airport on August 26, but was released on August 29 on a ruling by a Yerevan district court and returned to Russia on August 31.

The Armenian prosecutors have appealed the court's decision in the country's top appellate court.

Mironov's defense has earlier insisted that Mironov, employed at the Moscow office of the Synesis intelligent video surveillance developer, had no access to military technology and had visited the United States only once in 2013.