Montenegro has granted asylum to Russian multimillionaire Telman Ismailov, born in Azerbaijan, wanted by Moscow for his alleged role in two murders, his lawyer announced on Saturday.
Telman Ismailov was arrested in early October in Podgorica on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by Moscow calling for his extradition.
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He was released by decision of a court in Podgorica, after being granted asylum this week by the Interior Ministry, his lawyer Milos Vuksanovic told AFP.
The businessman "
has been granted international protection due to the existence of persecution in the country seeking him on the basis of political opinion
," according to the ministry's decision.
"Political persecution"
According to local press reports, Russia suspects Ismailov of having financed with two million dollars the murder of two entrepreneurs in Moscow in 2016.
For his lawyer, Mr. Ismailov is "a
victim of political and economic persecution on the part of Russia
".
In early October, Me Vuksanovic told local media that his client's asylum request in Montenegro, where his son Alekper Ismailov has a casino, predated his arrest and dated back to September.
In May 2009, Mr. Ismailov had drawn the wrath of the current Russian President Vladimir Poutine, then Prime Minister.
The businessman, founder of a huge market in Moscow repeatedly pinned for non-compliance with sanitary standards and the presence of counterfeit goods, inaugurated with great fanfare a luxury hotel in Turkey, in the presence of the stars Americans Richard Gere and Sharon Stone, in front of Russian television cameras.
Mr. Poutin had then engaged in a violent charge against smuggling and its perpetrators, and the market was definitively closed a few months later.
Mr. Ismailov then left Russia.