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Ex-U.S. soldier, now a double murder suspect, is a hero in Ukraine
Nbc ^ | December 28, 2019 | Kit Ramgopal

Posted on 01/02/2020 1:17:14 AM PST by NorseViking

Craig Lang, who is charged with killing a Florida couple in 2018, has become a cause célèbre in the country where he has fought as a mercenary.

In the spring of 2015, former U.S. soldier Craig Lang traveled to Ukraine and joined a paramilitary group fighting the Russians.

“I never noticed any fear,” said Mamuka Mamulashvili, who commanded Lang in the Georgian Legion.

Four years later, Lang is under house arrest in Ukraine. His situation has nothing to do with his conduct inside the eastern European country. Lang is facing charges in the U.S. for allegedly killing a Florida couple during a stint back home last year.

His fate remains unclear.

The U.S. has requested Lang’s extradition, but Ukraine has yet to hand him over. In a letter to his attorney obtained by NBC News, Ukraine’s national prosecutor’s office said it has reached out to the Justice Department asking that American authorities promise not to impose the death penalty on Lang.

The request marks the latest twist in a bizarre and bloody saga that’s now playing out in a country at the heart of the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

Experts say the case has the potential to strain the already fragile relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine.

“This is expected to be a very difficult case,” said Stanislav Batryn, a prominent lawyer and human rights advocate in Ukraine. “It becomes part of a political game between the two countries.”

Both the State Department and the Justice Department declined to comment.

Requests like the one from Ukraine’s national prosecutor’s office are not uncommon, international law experts say, especially for European countries that have signed a treaty to abolish the death penalty.

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Military/Veterans; Society; Travel
KEYWORDS: 123oclock4oclockzot; 2015; 2017; 201804; 20180409; 201909; 2020election; alexzwiefelhofer; alqaeda; alshabbab; armslist; armslistcom; armydeserter; awol; ayden; batryn; beto; betoorourke; brandonlamar; brooksville; cellphones; chechegeorgianterror; columbia; craiglang; dannylorenzo; deanalorenzo; deserters; estero; extradition; fbi; florida; floridaman; france; ftbenning; ftbliss; georgia; georgianlegion; ieds; jarrettsmith; leecounty; lorenzo; mexico; miami; nazi; nazitraitor; nevertrump; nevertrumper; nevertrumpers; norsetroll; northcarolina; putinsbuttboys; rightsector; serafinlorenzo; southsudan; spain; stanislavbatryn; sting; texas; ukraine; ukrainiannazi; ukrainianprosecutor; venezuela; vice; zwiefelhofer

1 posted on 01/02/2020 1:17:14 AM PST by NorseViking
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To: NorseViking

Pretty complicated story.

Better spread over at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7832949/Man-wanted-murder-Florida-couple-ex-Army-soldier-hero-mercenary-Ukraine.html

I would suggest this....if you took what they laid out...it’d make a great movie script. Based on the descriptions of this former US Army vet...I’d suggest that he’s on some type of medication or drug habit.


2 posted on 01/02/2020 1:32:17 AM PST by pepsionice
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To: pepsionice

I believe a ‘Yovanovich untouchables list’ Giuliani was talking about does exist and still enforced.
There is a certain group of ‘war veterans’ and ‘activists’ with numerous live murder and other criminal charges on them walking free and terrorizing populace.
Lang originally was held in custody under DOJ request but now the Ukrainian judges released him on ‘house arrest’.
What house arrest means in Ukraine is a mystery because there are other ‘activist’ murderers under house arrest for many months and all attending Nazi rallies, harassing the families and lawyers of their victims.


3 posted on 01/02/2020 1:41:52 AM PST by NorseViking
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To: NorseViking

Ukraine dictating sentencing rules in a U.S. criminal case, is not unlike Nanzi Pelosi dictating Senate procedures in the impeachment hearing.
Pretty much a non factor.


4 posted on 01/02/2020 2:56:30 AM PST by Fireone (Build the gallows first, then the wall!)
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To: pepsionice

Sounds like a CIA assassin with a flimsy cover story.


5 posted on 01/02/2020 3:07:40 AM PST by thoughtomator (... this has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.)
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To: Fireone

In case of another US Army defector and a Right Sector Nazi traitor Alex Zwiefelhofer who was Lang’s accomplice it might be the case. Lang is still under Ukrainian jurisdiction. They might try him themselves, sentence to suspended term and bring back to his Nazi unit.


6 posted on 01/02/2020 3:09:56 AM PST by NorseViking
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To: thoughtomator

Sounds more like a cold blood killer.......


7 posted on 01/02/2020 3:20:58 AM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: thoughtomator

This guy and his friend/associate from the Florida murder accusation....seem to be awful naive and a bit crazy. If the murder story is true, I’d pull out the mystery murders of past three years in the region and see if the two fit any other profiles. Other factor....who the heck goes to some plan ‘b’ situation...escaping to the Ukraine to fight in some civil war?


8 posted on 01/02/2020 3:41:12 AM PST by pepsionice
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To: pepsionice

Something’s not right with the story...

Supposedly he went to Ukraine in 2015 and according to thread’s ABC article he ‘spent years’ fighting for Ukraine... But then we are told he spent the last 5 years [2015 - 2019] traveling to a mile-long string of countries to ‘fight’... been everywhere from South Sudan in 2017, to Florida in April 2019, Mexico, and Columbia on an attempt to get into Venezuela. I think Spain too. Maybe they mean he was in Ukraine for only part of 2015 and possibly 2016, it doesn’t appear to be a long stretch of time.

Sounds more like a drug smuggler.


9 posted on 01/02/2020 4:20:33 AM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge.)
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To: pepsionice

Yeah, and one of his associates was a dingbat who [with the involvement of an FBI informant] was forming a plot against Beto. Who knew Beto was so important? Probablt the best publicity Beto could get to play the victim.


10 posted on 01/02/2020 4:24:20 AM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge.)
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To: piasa

South Sudan’s jnteresting, that’s Sid Blumenthal country there.


11 posted on 01/02/2020 4:25:33 AM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge.)
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To: pepsionice

An early report of the April 2018 murder in Florida of a couple from Brooksville but no mention of suspects. I don’t remember this making the news at the time which is odd as Brooksville is close by ... maybe I had a busy month and missed it:

https://www.nbc-2.com/story/37920190/homicide-death-murder-investigation-estero


12 posted on 01/02/2020 4:32:02 AM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge.)
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To: piasa

They’re definitely on the stupid side. $3000 would have been easy to rustle up in a legitimate way and not draw attention to their “hobby.”


13 posted on 01/02/2020 4:46:36 AM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge.)
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To: piasa

Or a modern day freebooter.

CC


14 posted on 01/02/2020 5:21:46 AM PST by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV)
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To: NorseViking

The selling couple didn’t show much common sense carrying $3000 to meet strangers in a mall parking lot to buy guns. Very, very dangerous.


15 posted on 01/02/2020 5:34:22 AM PST by Midwesterner53
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To: NorseViking

“...he claims he needs protection because President Donald Trump “has very close ties and a relationship with Vladimir Putin””

Took reading most of the article, but finally, the truth was revealed...it’s Donald Trump’s fault.


16 posted on 01/02/2020 5:40:17 AM PST by moovova
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To: Midwesterner53

“The selling couple didn’t show much common sense carrying $3000 to meet strangers in a mall parking lot to buy guns. “

I doubt it’s the case, but I guess there’s always the possibility the couple never had $3000 and actually tried to hijack the weapons from the two ex-soldiers. If the two guys are ever tried for the murders, I’m sure they’ll portray it that way, saying they were just acting in self-defense.


17 posted on 01/02/2020 5:51:22 AM PST by moovova
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