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Firtash arrested after Vienna court rules
Journal Staff Report

VIENNA, Feb. 21 - Vienna’s Higher Regional Court on Tuesday overturned a 2015 lower-court ruling that had blocked the extradition of Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash, resulting in his arrest shortly afterward on a European warrant.

Tuesday’s judgment is not subject to further appeal except in extraordinary circumstances, but the ultimate decision to hand him over to the U.S. lies with the Austrian Ministry of Justice.

Firtash, who had been free on bail pending the decision, was arrested by plainclothes police after he left the courtroom. Nina Bussek, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors, said a separate warrant from Spain was the basis for the arrest, but she declined to provide details, Bloomberg reported.

It wasn’t immediately clear how the Spanish charges might affect the U.S. case. Austrian law allows defendants to be held for up to 48 hours before going before a judge for arraignment.

“It wasn’t for us to judge whether Mr. Firtash was guilty, but only whether the extradition is allowed,” Judge Leo Levnaic-Iwanski said in the ruling on the U.S. request Tuesday. “This decision only means that another country will make a decision whether he is guilty.” He highlighted the importance of international cooperation to combat cross-border white-collar crimes.

Firtash’s legal team said in a statement that it is “disappointed” in the decision and will fight the charges in the U.S. Nicole Navas, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined to comment on the details of the case while saying that her agency thanked Austria’s government for its cooperation.

U.S. prosecutors are seeking Firtash, a one-time ally of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, on allegations he led a conspiracy to pay $18.5 million to Indian officials to facilitate a $500 million titanium project there.

Firtash denied the charges. His legal team, led by former Austrian Justice Minister Dieter Boehmdorfer, called them politically motivated.

“In February of 2014, the U.S. wanted to remove Mr Firtash from the geopolitical and from the Ukrainian domestic game,” defense lawyer Christian Hausmaninger told the court. “Mr. Firtash stood in the way of U.S. interests in Ukraine.”

U.S. prosecutors rejected that claim. In new filings with the court last year, they submitted wiretaps showing what they said was evidence of Firtash’s ties with organized crime. In Tuesday’s hearings, Firtash’s lawyers denounced that as misleading and outdated.

The appeals court heard no new testimony Tuesday. The judge said there was sufficient evidence to establish suspicion, which is the basis for extradition. He ruled that the defense arguments of political motivation applied when the crimes in question were themselves at least partly political, not criminal.

“There’s a high bar to prove political motivation and the case in question doesn’t show any dishonest interest,” the judge said. “The U.S. is a country with a long tradition of democracy and rule of law.” (bl/ez)




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