An Austrian court rules that Ukrainian businessman Firtash cannot be extradited to the USA

VIENNA (AP) — An Austrian court has ruled that Ukrainian businessman Dymitro Firtash cannot be extradited to the United States. A long-running legal saga involves a corruption case related to an alleged scheme to pay bribes in India.

The Vienna regional court announced on Tuesday evening that it had decided on November 7th that extradition was not permitted, the Austria Press Agency reported. Vienna prosecutors said they would appeal the decision and had until December 16 to do so.

Firtash faces an indictment in the United States accusing him of conspiring to pay bribes in India for titanium mining used in aircraft engines. He denies any wrongdoing.

In 2019, a federal judge in Chicago rejected a request to dismiss charges against Firtash, who had argued that the U.S. had no jurisdiction over crimes in India. However, the judge ruled that this was the case because any proposal would have had an impact on a Chicago-based company.

American aerospace group Boeing, based in Chicago, said it was considering a deal with Firtash but never followed through. He is not accused of any wrongdoing.

He was arrested in Austria in 2014 and then released on bail of 125 million euros ($131 million), marking the beginning of the ongoing legal saga. A Vienna court initially decided against extradition on the grounds that the charges were politically motivated.

In February 2017, a higher court rejected this reasoning as “insufficiently justified” and ruled that Firtash could be extradited. The Austrian Supreme Court confirmed this ruling in 2019.

The country’s then justice minister agreed to the extradition, but a Vienna judge ruled that it could only take place after the defense had made a decision to reopen the case. The Vienna regional court rejected a reopening of the case in March 2022, but a higher court decided last year to allow the extradition process to be reopened, citing new evidence.