Alleged spy extradited to Germany over 2017 Cold War-style abduction – prosecutor

BERLIN (Reuters) – A man suspected of involvement in the high-profile kidnapping of a Vietnamese businessman in Berlin in 2017 has been extradited to Germany from the Czech Republic, the German federal prosecutor’s office said on Thursday.

The suspect, a Vietnamese national identified as Anh T. L., faces charges of secret service activity and aiding and abetting the deprivation of liberty, a statement from the office said.

He was handed over to the German authorities on Wednesday following his arrest in Prague in April, it added.

On July 23, 2017, former oil executive Xuan Thanh Trinh was bundled into a van on a central Berlin street together with his female companion before being taken against his will back to Vietnam, where he was jailed for life.

Thanh, a former high flyer accused of causing losses and mismanagement at PetroVietnam Construction JSC, had sought asylum in Germany before his disappearance, which soured bilateral relations between Berlin and Hanoi.

One year after the abduction, a Vietnamese man identified as Long N. H. Was found guilty of involvement in the plot and sentenced by a Berlin court to three years and 10 months in prison.

(Reporting by Rachel More; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)