A London court on Tuesday decided to postpone extradition hearings for businessman Yevgeny Chichvarkin until Aug. 2 to give legal experts time to translate Russian documentation.
The Westminster Magistrates Court said the eight months were needed to translate 29 volumes of documents from Russian into English and the August hearing would set a timetable for a full hearing.
Chichvarkin, the former owner of cell phone retailer Yevroset, denies wrongdoing and has said that the case is politically motivated.
“I know that I am right, and I am confident that the British legal system will give me a fair hearing,” Chichvarkin told reporters outside the court after the hearing, Reuters reported.
He faces more than 30 years in prison if convicted of Russian charges of extortion and of kidnapping a former company employee.
Chichvarkin was detained in London on Sept. 7 on a Russian extradition request but freed on bail of £100,000 ($165,660) shortly thereafter.
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