OSLO — A former commander of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group who not too long ago fled to Norway has been apprehended by police, an official stated on Monday, and a Russian rights group stated he had been advised he could be deported to Russia.
“He is apprehended…and we are considering whether to seek a court’s decision for internment,” Police Lawyer Line Isaksen advised Reuters, declining to offer additional particulars.
Andrei Medvedev is a former commander of the Wagner group which is combating for Russia within the Ukraine struggle.
He fled by crossing the Russian-Norwegian border and has stated he’s in concern for his life after witnessing the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners delivered to the entrance strains in Ukraine to battle for Wagner.
Gulagu.internet, a Russian group that campaigns for prisoners’ rights and has been involved with Medvedev, stated he had been detained and handcuffed on Sunday night and advised he was being taken to a detention heart for subsequent deportation.
There was no affirmation from Norwegian authorities of any plan to deport him. Police weren’t instantly out there to remark.
The rights group stated Medvedev would face “brutal murder and death” for talking out towards Wagner if he was returned to Russia.
“We do not whitewash Medvedev. He has done many bad things in his life,” the rights group stated.
“But he has seen the light, he has realized this, he is ready and willing to cooperate with the world, with the international investigation and with the authorities of Norway, he wants to live and testify” towards Wagner and its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, it added.
Medvedev is an orphan who joined the Russian military and served time in jail earlier than becoming a member of Wagner final July on a four-month contract that he stated the group had then repeatedly prolonged with out his consent.
He has stated he crossed the snowy border into Norway from Russia within the Arctic Circle after climbing by means of barbed-wire fences and evading a border patrol with canine. — Reuters
