Italian judges face disciplinary action

Italy’s justice minister has begun disciplinary action against three judges who granted house arrest to a Russian businessman facing extradition to the U.S. who later escaped and fled to Russia, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.
Artem Uss was due to face charges in the U.S. for shipping oil from Venezuela in breach of sanctions, and for bank fraud.
The suspect left his home in Basiglio, on the outskirts of Milan, last month one day after a Milan court had agreed to transfer him to the U.S. His electronic tag did send out an alarm but Uss had fled by the time police reached the property.
Italian Minister Carlo Nordio, according to the sources, accuses the Milan appeals court judges of “gross and inexcusable negligence” for granting the suspect house arrest last November despite opposition from the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Prosecutors, the sources said, had pointed out the deep financial resources of the suspect, who is the son of the Krasnoyarsk regional governor, and the real danger of flight.