Death convict escapes extradition to UAE, released from jail in Belarus

Pyotr Ivanik, a Russian national sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates for having ordered the murder of his business partner back in 2011, has been released from jail No. 1 in Minsk, according to Aleh Khlyshchenka, head of the international legal department of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Belarus. The official said that the death convict was released after the UAE authorities missed the deadline for providing the necessary documents for Mr. Ivanik’s extradition.

In December 2011, the Islamic Court of the Emirate of Sharjah found Pyotr Ivanik, along with Alexey Yanchuk, guilty of murdering their business partner from Chelyabinsk Yauhen Khoprov. The crime was committed in 2009 in the United Arab Emirates. The sentence was handed down in absentia, since both defendants were on the wanted list.

For a long time, their whereabouts remained unknown. Later it was reported that Yanchuk had received a residence permit in Germany, while Ivanik has been recently found in jail in Belarus.