November 14, 2026
The Lebanese judiciary succeeded, after continuous efforts extending for more than two years, in recovering a Lebanese citizen sentenced to Russian prisons, in a qualitative handover process that took place according to joint judicial, security and diplomatic coordination between Beirut and Moscow. These efforts, led by the Cassation Public Defender, Judge Myrna Kallas, culminated in overcoming the complexities of the usual international procedures in convict transfer files.
The details of the case date back to the year 2021, when the Russian authorities arrested the Lebanese citizen, “J.F.S.” A final prison sentence was issued against him. The Russian Ministry of the Interior explained, in an official statement issued on November 12, 2026, that a court in the Republic of Mordovia convicted the person concerned of the crime of fraud in accordance with Article 159 of the Russian Penal Code, sentencing him to imprisonment for a period of nine years and two months, on the grounds of crimes related to fraud and drugs.
Over the course of two years, Judge Mirna Kallas took over the management of the file through official correspondence channels with the competent Russian authorities, based on the applicable Lebanese laws related to the prison system and drug control, and in close cooperation with the Lebanese and Russian embassies, which resulted in extracting Moscow’s approval of the extradition request with the aim of completing the remainder of the sentence in Lebanese prison institutions, and not to release him.
To carry out the handover process, a team affiliated with the Lebanese Central Criminal Investigation Department headed to the Russian capital, where the official handover process took place at Vnukovo International Airport. The prisoner was handed over by members of the Interpol National Central Bureau in the Russian Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Prison Service, in coordination with the Interpol offices in Beirut and Moscow and the two relevant embassies.
This step is of great importance because it reflects the effectiveness of joint coordination between the judicial, security and diplomatic agencies in the two countries, and is part of the judicial cooperation agreements for the transfer of convicts that allow the completion of the implementation of punishments in the countries of nationality of the convicts according to precise legal conditions. Although the Russian authorities reserved mentioning the identity of the convict in their statement, the completion of his transfer opens the door to similar settlements and treatments for the files of other Lebanese citizens serving sentences abroad.
