Frédéric Bélot defended Alexander Vinnik, a Russian national subject to several international arrest warrants (United States, Russia and France), prosecuted for 14 offences related to the ‘Locky’ ransomware and the activity of the cryptocurrency trading platform (particularly bitcoins) BTC-E.
Mr Vinnik, who was prosecuted by the American, French and Russian authorities, was arrested and imprisoned in Greece in July 2017 following an American arrest warrant.
He was then extradited to France in January 2020 following a European arrest warrant, where he was placed in pre-trial detention.
Frédéric Bélot acted as Mr Vinnik’s defence counsel from the end of June 2020.
The criminal trial before the Paris Criminal Court took place from 19 to 23 October 2020.
Press release :
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Appeal before the Paris Court of Appeal
Mr Alexander Vinnik, through his attorney, Mr Frédéric Bélot, appealed against the decision handed down by the Paris Criminal Court in December 2020 before the Paris Court of Appeal, which confirmed the Criminal Court’s decision.
Mr Vinnik then appealed to the Court of Cassation and his attorney, Frédéric Bélot, filed a Priority Preliminary Ruling on Constitutionality before the Constitutional Council. On 18 February 2022, the Court of Cassation (Criminal Division, judgment no. 314 of 15 February 2022) referred a priority preliminary ruling on constitutionality to the Constitutional Council, in accordance with the conditions set out in Article 61-1 of the Constitution.
After the Court of Cassation upheld the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal, his lawyer, Frédéric Bélot, appealed to the European Court of Human Rights.
Having served his sentence in France, Mr Vinnik was handed over to Greece and then extradited to the United States, which had issued an international arrest warrant for him.
After several attempts by his lawyer, Frédéric Bélot, to have him included in a prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia, https://www.wsj.com/articles/brittney-griner-appeal-prisoner-trade-update-11666623534 Mr Vinnik was finally exchanged on 13 February 2025 for Mr Marc Fogel, who was being held in Russia.
The international press commented on this swap.
https://www.franceinfo.fr/monde/russie/le-hacker-alexander-vinnik-libere-en-echange-de-l-americain-marc-fogel-a-ete-remis-a-la-russie_7074120.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/12/europe/russia-citizen-exchange-marc-fogel-intl/index.html
https://www.wsj.com/world/russian-bitcoin-exchange-co-founder-to-be-freed-by-the-u-s-after-americans-release-3f5fe066?st=T5i7oJ&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/12/alexander-vinnik-crypto-marc-fogel-exchange/
https://www.livemint.com/news/world/two-russians-who-didn-t-make-it-into-the-historic-prisoner-swap-face-uncertain-future-11723036755612.html
https://www.gate.com/tr/news/detail/9240226
https://www.blocmates.com/news-posts/us-russia-prisoner-exchange-trump-releases-btc-e-co-founder-vinnik
https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/20294272319162
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/kremlin-embarrasses-trump-truth-u-162654096.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACQjjG5qcjIsCi2Q3Qy3DJ38f4T5KUElk6w1Hoz1wMPOMqtsS-YuJt1wHCg2GNVjLkAtVqMfywo0aJHL_h_VIFeHiGCl_mHlq3OiHar-jgHVSiFOBGXlvtEmJdApT95XI41yTBMnQXIHcL3pONyY0R2nSRRe5UY-y9Im_ljOw757
https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/02/13/who-is-alexander-vinnik-bitcoin-criminal-trump-freed-exchange-russia/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy08z28wpvdo
https://apnews.com/article/russia-us-prisoner-swap-fogel-vinnik-99c8ba8ab8ac31dc017148c7a94f9685
https://www.wral.com/lawyer-for-russian-accused-of-money-laundering-asks-for-client-to-be-included-in-us-russia-prisoner-swap-negotiations/20450941/
https://tass.com/world/1912409https://news.bitcoin.com/us-may-consider-alexander-vinnik-for-prisoner-exchange-with-russia-lawyer-says/
https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/san-francisco-crypto-case-gets-another-jolt-of-international-intrigue/article_3e4c64e4-2e37-11ed-8231-5f4c782cb10a.html
BTC-e Operator Alexander Vinnik Files for Release on Bail Due to Trial Delay
https://cryptonews.net/news/legal/21040881/
https://crypto.news/alexander-vinniks-lawyer-proposes-prisoner-swap-deal/
https://www.pressreader.com/india/mint-mumbai/20250214/281938843632374
https://www.scworld.com/brief/us-releases-btc-e-operator-in-prisoner-exchange-with-russia
https://tass.com/world/1912431
https://www.reuters.com/world/plane-carrying-alexander-vinnik-released-by-us-prisoner-swap-arrives-moscow-2025-02-13/
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged
https://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/pour-liberer-lenseignant-marc-fogel-donald-trump-laisse-repartir-en-russie-le-cybercriminel-alexander-vinnik-406312.htm