Polish Court Rejects Motion to Recuse Judge in Butyagin Case

The Warsaw District Court rejected the defense«s motion to recuse Judge Lubowski, who is handling the extradition case of Alexander Butyagin. The announcement was made on January 28 on the Telegram channel »Lawyer for Alexander Butyagin«.

Lawyer Adam Domański stated: «A decision on recusing a judge can be made without notifying the parties of the hearing date. However, if such information becomes known, the defense has the right to participate in the hearing. We did everything possible to take part: we monitored the situation, called the court twice a day, submitted a written motion expressing our desire to attend. The judge was not obligated to notify us, but the consideration could have been organized in a way to give us the opportunity to participate. This was not done.»

The motion to recuse the judge was filed on January 15. The defense pointed to Lubowski«s actions, which, in their opinion, indicate bias. The judge has rejected all motions in the Butyagin case, and in another trial for the accused in the sabotage of the »Nord Stream« pipelines, he ordered his immediate release.

The date for the new extradition hearing has not yet been announced, and Alexander Butyagin will have to attend in person. Previously, the court refused to transfer the archaeologist from pre-trial detention to house arrest and extended his detention until March 4.

Ukraine accuses the St. Petersburg scientist of organizing illegal excavations in Crimea and causing damage to cultural heritage sites. Lawyer Domański argued that the first part of the accusation is not criminally punishable under Ukrainian law, and the amount of damage needs to be justified. Butyagin himself expressed concerns that extradition to Ukraine would pose a threat to his life and health due to his Russian citizenship.