Swiss authorities decided on Monday to extradite former Russian nuclear minister Yevgeny Adamov to the United States rather than to his homeland.

The Swiss Ministry of Justice said in a statement that the US request was given precedence because "had priority been given to Russia, Adamov's Russian citizenship would have meant that he could not subsequently have been extradited forward" to the United States.

This would have resulted in an unacceptable failing of the prosecution process, the ministry said, adding the United States could later deport Adamov to Russia after completing its own judicial proceedings.

Adamov, who is facing charges in the United States of stealing up to 9 million US dollars intended for improvements to Russia's nuclear security, has 30 days to file an appeal with the Swiss Federal Court.

Russia had been contesting the US request, fearing that Adamov could reveal nuclear secrets.

The justice ministry said "all the conditions for Adamov's extradition to the US had been fulfilled."

But Adamov has accepted extradition only to Russia. He started a hunger strike on Monday, according to justice ministry spokesman Rudolf Wyss.

Swiss authorities arrested Adamov on a US warrant on May 2, while he was visiting his daughter in Bern, capital of Switzerland.

Adamov was Russia's atomic energy minister from 1998 to 2001.

Source: Xinhua