Montenegro granted asylum to Telman Ismailov due to the fact that Switzerland closed a criminal case against him – lawyer

The Montenegrin authorities have granted political asylum to the ex-owner of the Cherkizovsky market, Telman Ismailov, since a criminal case against him was closed in Switzerland at the beginning of the year. About it informs TASS with reference to the lawyer of the businessman Marina Rusakova.

The lawyer stressed that the closure of the case played a key role in the decision of the Montenegrin authorities. “Ismailov was paid compensation in the amount of more than 15 thousand Swiss francs, and this decision of the Zurich prosecutor’s office indicated false information provided by the Russian side to justify Telman’s guilt,” added Rusakova.

A criminal case against the businessman was initiated in Switzerland at the end of 2018 on the basis of a statement filed in 2017 by BM Bank JSC. According to Rusakova, for three years – until the closure of the case in January 2021 – “total checks of his accounts, the flow of funds of Ismailov and his close relatives were carried out.”

During the investigation, the Zurich prosecutor’s office came to the conclusion that the Russian bank provided false information, including on the sentencing of Telman Ismailov in a number of criminal cases and on the connection with money laundering and the murders of businessmen Vladimir Savkin and Yuri Brylev.

That Telman Ismailov received political asylum in Montenegro, it became known the day before.

Ismailov was detained on October 1 this year in Podgorica. He was later arrested on the basis of a warrant issued by Russia. The businessman was placed in an extradition facility. On the same day, Ismailov asked for political asylum.

In Russia, Ismailov has been put on the wanted list in a double murder case. In 2017, he was charged with organizing the murder of two or more people, as well as illegal arms trafficking.

In 2019, a criminal case was opened against Ismailov in Switzerland under three articles. As Kommersant wrote earlier, also in 2019, due to Ismailov’s debts, the casino of his son Alekper in Montenegro was arrested.

In 2009 Telman Ismailov opened the Mardan Palace hotel in Turkey, which was named by the media as “the most expensive hotel on the continent.” In November 2015, it became known that the Turkish Halkbank had bought the hotel at an auction. In connection with the hotel’s debts, 67 criminal cases were initiated.