After Intensive Diplomatic Efforts, Rumanian Court Rules Bnei Brak Resident Won’t Be Extradited To Belarus

NEW YORK (VINnews) — A Rumanian court released on Tuesday a 38-year-old Bnei Brak resident who had been detained for two months and had been under threat of extradition to Belarus for economic crimes.

Roman Dorfman, a worker at Ben Gurion airport, was arrested two months ago on the way to his mother’s funeral in Kishinev, Moldova, after an international arrest warrant was issued by Belarus via Interpol. The court initially permitted him to be extradited to Belarus despite the local Justice Ministry’s assessment that the human rights situation in Belarus is “terrible.”

Belarus had issued the warrant claiming that Dorfman had fictitiously sold tickets to a motorcycle show, charging 15,500 Euro and not providing the tickets. Dorfman denied the claims and said that he was a partner in a local company which was nationalized by the government and he therefore ran away from the country. Dorfman had expressed his willingness to pay for the tickets but Belarus demanded his arrest.

On Tuesday the court accepted the claims of his attorney, Mordechai Tzibin, who stressed that Belarus has no human rights and there was no chance of a fair trial there. The court’s decision was not challenged by the prosecution and Tzibin explained that this was the result of repeated diplomatic efforts with Rumania’s Foreign Affairs and Justice ministries.

A number of parties assisted Tzibin in his fight against the extradition, including Rabbi Chaim Yosef David (Chido) Weiss, a famous Dayan from the Satmar community in Antwerp, who was actively involved in the negotiations. Additionally, former Israeli National Security Director Giora Eiland, General(Res.) Udi Shani and French lawyer William Goldnadel were also involved in the efforts to release Dorfman.