From daytondailynews.com
ATHENS, GREECE — The lawyers for a Russian suspected of bitcoin fraud and wanted by three countries said Thursday that the man’s health is deteriorating due to a hunger strike, and criticized the Greek courts for detaining him for more than the maximum 18 months allowed.
Lawyer Zoe Konstantopoulou said Alexander Vinnik, 39, has been on a hunger strike for three months, during which time he has lost about 30 percent of his body weight. She aired a video of a gaunt-looking Vinnik she said was shot last week.
She noted he has been in custody for 19 months despite not being charged with any crimes in Greece.
“This person is a detainee without charges, without a sentence and without rights,” Konstantopoulou said during a news conference, adding that he was now in an “exceptionally critical state of health.”
Vinnik’s Russian lawyer, Timofey Musatov, said his client was determined to receive justice. “From the beginning, he said: ‘justice or death’,” Musatov said through an interpreter.