Austrian court rules that Ukrainian businessman Firtash can’t be extradited to the US

VIENNA (AP) In a protracted legal battle that revolves around a corruption case involving an alleged scheme to pay bribes in India, an Austrian court has decided that Ukrainian businessman Dymitro Firtash cannot be extradited to the United States.

According to the Austria Press Agency, the Vienna State Court announced Tuesday night that it had ruled on November 7 that extradition is not permitted. Prosecutors in Vienna declared they would appeal the ruling, and they have until December 16 to do so.

Firtash is charged with a conspiracy to pay bribes in India to mine titanium, which is used in jet engines, according to a U.S. indictment. He denies any misconduct.

A move to have the indictment against Firtash dismissed was denied by a federal judge in Chicago in 2019. Firtash has maintained that the United States lacks jurisdiction over offenses committed in India. But because any scheme would have affected a Chicago-based corporation, the judge decided that it does.

The Chicago-based American airline Boeing has stated that it contemplated doing business with Firtash but never did. It is not charged with any misconduct.

The protracted legal drama began when he was detained in Austria in 2014 and released on bail of 125 million euros ($131 million). At first, a Vienna judge denied extradition, citing political motivations behind the prosecution.

In February 2017, a higher court decided that Firtash could be extradited after rejecting that argument as not being sufficiently supported. In 2019, the Supreme Court of Justice of Austria affirmed that decision.

The extradition was authorized by the nation’s justice minister at the time, but a Vienna court judge decided that it could only happen following a defense call to reopen the case. A higher court last year opted to permit the restart of extradition proceedings, citing fresh evidence, after the Vienna state court rejected the idea in March 2022.

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