REUTERS
Tsemakh's lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said that "despite such a decision by the Strasbourg court, he will continue to look for other ways to protect Tsemakh's interests."
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rejected the request filed by Volodymyr Tsemakh, a suspect in the MH17 downing probe, in which he asked to ban his extradition to the Netherlands.
"It is about Tsemakh's complaint against the Netherlands and Ukraine. In November, the ECHR rejected the plaintiff's request for approval of an interim measure that would prohibit his extradition to the Netherlands," a court representative said, the Russian news agency TASS reported.
Read alsoMH17 case: Kremlin spokesman declines to comment on Tsemakh
Tsemakh's lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told the Russian news agency Interfax that "despite such a decision by the Strasbourg court, he will continue to look for other ways to protect Tsemakh's interests."
"We are frustrated by the ECHR's decision to reject our request for approval of an interim measure that would ban Tsemakh's extradition to the Netherlands," the lawyer said. He also said he personally did not receive an official response from the Strasbourg court.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service on December 2 said the Russian Federation had deliberately allowed Tsemakh to leave the country so as not to extradite him to the Netherlands.
On September 7, Tsemakh was transferred to Russia as part of a major prisoner swap, as a result of which 24 Ukrainian sailors and 11 Ukrainian political prisoners returned home.
Later it became known that he had returned to the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic."
On September 7, the Dutch Prosecutor's Office sent a request to the Russian authorities for Tsemakh's temporary arrest for further extradition to the Netherlands.
On September 11, the Netherlands changed Tsemakh's status from a key witness to a suspect.