There has been an interview by the Minister for Communications, Hon. Sam George, stating that the government is exploring options to extradite the Russian young man who engaged in sexual bout with some Ghanaian ladies.
In practical terms, there is no way the Russian who had intimacy with the Ghanaian ladies can be extradited to Ghana to face prosecution.
Pursuant to Article 61(1) of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, a Russian citizen cannot be extradited to another state under any circumstances.
This prohibition is absolute and does not depend on the seriousness of the alleged crime. So even if Ghana formally requests extradition, Russia is constitutionally barred from handing over its own citizen.
The rule has consistently been applied by Russia in high-profile international criminal cases, including homicide, cybercrime, and terrorism matters. This simply means Russia legally shields its citizens from foreign prosecution through extradition. The constitutional provision cannot be overridden by treaties or bilateral agreements.
While Russia will not extradite, it may prosecute its citizen domestically on the grounds that Ghana submits formal evidence of the secret explicit videos of the ladies to Russia and the alleged acts constitute criminal offences under the Russian law.
Russian criminal law allows domestic prosecution for crimes committed abroad by Russian nationals, under the principle of active personality jurisdiction.
The process, for instance, is that that Ghana submits its pieces of evidence of the criminal act, Russia opens its own criminal case, trial begins and punishment imposed on the accused if any. The proceedings shall soley be done within the jurisdiction of Russia and not Ghana.
It is important for Ghanaians to exercise some levels of restraint in calling for Government officials to extradite the Russian young man.
