The “Igor Kokunov” case and the encrypted decision of the Constitutional Court

2026-01-16 10:40:00, Editorial CNA

The “Igor Kokunov” case and the encrypted decision of the

The latest decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Albania, which partially accepts the request of Russian citizen Igor Kokunov, constitutes one of the most problematic legal acts of recent years, not only for its content, but above all for the inverted constitutional logic on which it is built.

Igor Kokunov is not a political persecuted person. Not every Russian outside Russia is where he is because he is politically persecuted.

Moreover, when he is caught by the country where he is staying, this happens for reasons related to the person's high criminality. And it is not related to his passport or political beliefs.

Our Constitutional Court's latest decision, if it were to be applied further to every criminal who needs to be extradited, would easily turn Albania into a state where extradition becomes impossible. Our Constitutional Court, prompted by the case of the Russian criminal, has set additional conditions for future extraditions.

(Decision of the Constitutional Court)

The court in the case of the Russian criminal found:

1. violation of Article 25 of the Constitution (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), in relation to the standard of judicial reasoning;

2. violation of Article 39 of the Constitution (prohibition of expulsion), regarding the obligation of the authorities to implement its decisions.

At first glance, the decision is dressed up as a protection of fundamental rights. But in essence, it is a legal act disconnected from factual, legal and constitutional reality and with serious consequences for the legal order and national security.

Note below the chronology of the case, which the Court cannot change:

The facts are stubborn:

-on 14.10.2024 – The Minister of Justice has issued a decision allowing extradition, following the final decision of the Supreme Court allowing his extradition to the Russian state.

-on 30.10.2024, 16:45 – the physical handover of Igor Kokunov to the Russian side has been agreed upon and carried out in Rinas.

-on 30.10.2024, 17:15 (half an hour later)– The Constitutional Court makes an interim suspension decision (according to the official announcement).

- 17:53 – (i.e. half an hour after it convened), the decision arrives by email at the Ministry of Justice. (It is not known how many minutes it took the Court to consider and decide. But it probably took less than half an hour.)

-6:04 PM – "the decision" arrives in the minister's anteroom email.

According to this chronology, by the time the Constitutional Court's "decision" was made, the extradition had been completed.

So, the jurisdiction of the Albanian state had ceased. Any action after boarding the plane would constitute kidnapping, not a "suspension of execution."

The “Igor Kokunov” case and the encrypted decision of the

The claim that the Minister of Justice should have suspended an extradition before the decision was made by the Constitutional Court is not only absurd, but unconstitutional.

The Court considers that its decision should have forced the Minister to return the person who had already been handed over to foreign authorities.

Article 500 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was deliberately ignored by the Constitutional Court in this case.

Article 500 of the CPC is clear: the execution of extradition is suspended only in cases expressly defined by law or when there is a suspension decision in force.

At 4:45 PM, there was no suspension decision. Bilé didn't even have a probation court at work!

The Minister of Justice does not have the prophetic power to predict decisions that have not yet been taken by the Constitutional Court. Even more so, this power is lacking with the cases of our Constitutional Court, which says what it says today, it does not say tomorrow. Our Constitutional Court cannot hold on to decisions, because its objectives are often shifting.

The Constitutional Court, with the reasoning of the crypto criminal case, has set a dangerous precedent: public authorities are held liable for the failure to implement an imaginary decision.

The inhumane treatment assessed by our Constitutional Court is a standard specially invented for an elite criminal, who is accustomed to paying with crypto!

The court goes even further, considering the fact that Kokunov is in pre-trial detention in Moscow to be inhumane treatment:

-in a room with 6 people

-no television.

The court felt compelled to pursue the criminal to Russian prison cells.

Igor Kokunov

This standard, if actually applied, would paralyze the entire international extradition system.

Article 25 of the Constitution and international jurisprudence do not protect comfort, but minimal human dignity. Otherwise, any prison outside Western Europe would automatically be grounds for refusal of extradition.

We recall that we are not dealing with a persecuted political figure, but with a multiple-convicted individual, with the highest rank in the hierarchy of Russian organized crime. And all this is happening at a time when Albania maintains diplomatic relations with Russia despite its status in the instruments of the Council of Europe.

Why was the danger of the complainant who found the door of the Constitutional Court open outside of official hours ignored?

The court had official knowledge:

-for the attempted escape from Rec prison;

-for the Albanian-Montenegrin criminal plan to kidnap him during a medical visit and

-for the extreme dangerousness of the subject.

This information, sent by specialized authorities, was ignored.

What strong argument convinced the first 3 judges of the Advisory Chamber, and then 6 out of 8 members of the panel, that the criminal should remain in Albania until he was provided with a standard single-room apartment in Russia?

Instead of public safety, the narrative of artificial victimization was privileged for a criminal who pays with cryptocurrencies!

The 5:15 PM dark emergency!

Why was the Court convened urgently?

Why outside of office hours?

Why, according to sources, with judges gathered from home, in sportswear?

Certainly not for a Russian opposition politician.

But for a figure widely rumored as the "king of cryptocurrency," with shady financial connections and dangerous influence.

The justice of the Constitutional Court has often moved selectively lately. But when even haste becomes selective, it has ceased to be the justice of a high state institution.

In the end, it must be said that this decision, strangely advertised by some media outlets as being in defense of the Constitution, is a bit of a mouthful.

It's not a defense of human rights. It's a cryptic fabrication.

The Kokunov case has now taken the right path. It is no longer simply an extradition issue, but a test of the integrity of the Albanian state.

The Constitutional Court in this case has at least lost its compass.

But the state cannot afford to lose its foundations because of some "standards" created specifically for an international crypto criminal. Even more so when this "standards" building occurs with the Constitutional Court.

Which coincidentally these days there is an inflation of decisions. How to make noise about the "standard" of the "Kokunov" case!/ CNA