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Polish court rules against sending Ukrainian suspect to

Germany

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Volodymyr Z. wanted in connection with Nord Stream

bombings

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Polish PM says he should not be given to Germany

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Warsaw is a long standing critic of Nord Stream

(Recasts with court's decision)

By Marek Strzelecki and Anna Koper

WARSAW, Oct 17 (Reuters) - A Polish court on Friday

ruled against handing over a Ukrainian suspect wanted by Germany

in connection with the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions,

a decision that will please the government in Warsaw which had

opposed his transfer.

Although Warsaw had said the decision over whether Volodymyr

Z. should be transferred to Germany was one for the courts

alone, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier this month that

handing Volodymyr Z. over was not in Poland's interest.

Tusk said the problem was not that the undersea pipelines,

which run from Russia to Germany, were blown up in September

2022, but that they were built at all.

The explosions largely severed Russian gas supplies to

Europe, marking a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict and

squeezing energy supplies.

Germany's top prosecutors' office says Volodymyr Z. was one

of a group suspected of renting a sailing yacht and planting

explosives on the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm.

He faces allegations of conspiring to commit an explosives

attack and of "anti-constitutional sabotage".

His Polish lawyer rejects the accusations and says Volodymyr

Z. has done nothing wrong. He has also questioned whether a case

concerning the destruction of Russian property by a Ukrainian at

a time when the countries are at war is a criminal matter.