Austrian court rejects Ukraine tycoon's US extradition / Photo: © APA/AFP/File
CMSC
0.0250
The China Mail - Austrian court rejects Ukraine tycoon's US extradition
USD
-
AED 3.6725
AFN 63.502786
ALL 81.649774
AMD 368.210105
ANG 1.790403
AOA 917.493505
ARS 1436.719047
AUD 1.415899
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.698139
BAM 1.685177
BBD 2.015096
BDT 122.817901
BGN 1.69088
BHD 0.377101
BIF 2991
BMD 1
BND 1.281762
BOB 6.938712
BRL 5.103302
BSD 1.000526
BTN 94.560525
BWP 13.406112
BYN 2.76997
BYR 19600
BZD 2.012252
CAD 1.39983
CDF 2319.999903
CHF 0.79242
CLF 0.022506
CLP 885.760184
CNY 6.75745
CNH 6.757055
COP 3434.66
CRC 455.716489
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 95.350038
CZK 20.80495
DJF 177.719876
DKK 6.43765
DOP 58.60058
DZD 132.878618
EGP 50.219199
ERN 15
ETB 158.374949
EUR 0.86127
FJD 2.233701
FKP 0.744874
GBP 0.74475
GEL 2.645015
GGP 0.744874
GHS 11.293234
GIP 0.744874
GMD 73.000051
GNF 8777.496097
GTQ 7.626359
GYD 209.290102
HKD 7.833315
HNL 26.701565
HRK 6.488698
HTG 130.666299
HUF 300.973502
IDR 17746
ILS 2.915705
IMP 0.744874
INR 94.48745
IQD 1310
IRR 1375000.000195
ISK 124.380217
JEP 0.744874
JMD 158.238482
JOD 0.708993
JPY 160.328499
KES 129.460039
KGS 87.449893
KHR 4012.49985
KMF 425.000019
KPW 900.00035
KRW 1513.519947
KWD 0.30813
KYD 0.8338
KZT 487.920041
LAK 22029.999523
LBP 89550.000026
LKR 335.185855
LRD 182.150032
LSL 16.203129
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.604891
LYD 6.375025
MAD 9.244973
MDL 17.459223
MGA 4200.000011
MKD 53.088924
MMK 2099.401411
MNT 3576.563972
MOP 8.072446
MRU 40.080115
MUR 47.240073
MVR 15.459923
MWK 1735.999583
MXN 17.206425
MYR 4.068799
MZN 63.897688
NAD 16.207518
NGN 1359.39797
NIO 36.609603
NOK 9.472595
NPR 151.295881
NZD 1.715545
OMR 0.384502
PAB 1.000526
PEN 3.41251
PGK 4.38775
PHP 60.390949
PKR 278.294418
PLN 3.65065
PYG 6105.515298
QAR 3.640501
RON 4.505015
RSD 101.073983
RUB 72.497814
RWF 1488
SAR 3.751894
SBD 8.061424
SCR 13.488178
SDG 600.498557
SEK 9.357365
SGD 1.282021
SHP 0.746601
SLE 24.749474
SLL 20969.503664
SOS 571.497411
SRD 37.331976
STD 20697.981008
STN 21.4
SVC 8.754244
SYP 110.532098
SZL 16.198703
THB 32.545998
TJS 9.274765
TMT 3.51
TND 2.91175
TOP 2.40776
TRY 46.316498
TTD 6.796543
TWD 31.546503
TZS 2619.998008
UAH 44.808889
UGX 3701.565583
UYU 40.393596
UZS 12005.000055
VES 596.036401
VND 26319.5
VUV 118.866954
WST 2.741216
XAF 565.192704
XAG 0.014245
XAU 0.000231
XCD 2.70255
XCG 1.803205
XDR 0.703697
XOF 565.000266
XPF 103.250334
YER 238.625011
ZAR 16.196735
ZMK 9001.19837
ZMW 17.684109
ZWL 321.999592
- Stuffed toys and surfboards: Japan used goods market booms overseas
- Messi salutes 'beautiful moment' after tying World Cup goals record
- Putin hosts ASEAN leaders amid G7 pressure on Ukraine war
- Iranian tankers exit US blockade zone ahead of peace talks
- 'Unstable' Tasmanian devil found after 15 days on the run
- Magical Messi equals World Cup goals record as Argentina win
- Messi equals World Cup goalscoring record in Argentina romp
- Restore Britain, the hard-right party troubling Nigel Farage
- Trap, neuter, release: Jakarta battles cat-astrophic stray numbers
- Cuba's historic homes teeter on brink as economy collapses
Austrian court rejects Ukraine tycoon's US extradition
An Austrian court announced Wednesday that it had rejected the extradition to the United States of Ukrainian tycoon Dmytro Firtash on bribery charges, the latest twist in a long-running legal saga.
An ex-ally of Ukraine's ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, Firtash made his fortune importing gas to Ukraine from Russia and Central Asia in collaboration with Russian gas giant Gazprom.
He is already the target of British and Ukrainian sanctions.
Firtash is wanted in the United States on charges that he paid bribes to officials in India to secure titanium mining licences in 2006.
The 60-year-old has denied all wrongdoing, arguing that the charges brought against him are politically motivated.
Vienna's Higher Regional Court said in a statement it had decided on December 9 to dismiss as "inadmissible" the latest appeal by prosecutors against a court's ruling from 2024 that said Firtash could not be extradited.
It added that its decision was "legally binding" and therefore final.
- Long court battle -
Firtash's Group DF business empire has also been involved in energy, chemicals, media, banking and property in Ukraine and other countries including Germany, Italy and Austria.
Since 2014, Firtash has been unable to leave Austria due to an international arrest warrant issued by the United States.
The United States' extradition request "was related to the payment of bribes amounting to tens of millions of euros for mining licences in a mineral extraction project in India," the Vienna court said in its statement.
In 2015, an Austrian court rejected Firtash's extradition. But an appeals court in 2017 ruled he could be extradited to the United States, a decision a top court upheld in 2019.
Firtash then requested that proceedings be reopened and submitted new documents and testimony, which eventually led to the case being reopened.
A Vienna court finally declared Firtash's extradition not permissible in 2024, a ruling prosecutors sought to appeal, but failed to meet the deadline.
- British, Ukrainian sanctions -
In 2024, the United Kingdom sanctioned the tycoon, accusing him of having "extracted hundreds of millions of pounds from Ukraine through corruption and his control of gas distribution and has hidden tens of millions of pounds of ill-gotten gains in the UK property market alone".
He was also sanctioned in June 2021 by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for selling titanium products to Russian military companies.
K.Lam--ThChM
